


Vindication and Wedding Cake

by WolfenM



Series: The Miraculous Memory Machine [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Engagement, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Memories, Modern Bucky Barnes, POV Bucky Barnes, POV Steve Rogers, POV Third Person, POV Tony Stark, Pepperony - Freeform, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Civil War (Marvel), Protective Steve Rogers, Redemption, Steve Rogers Feels, Wedding Fluff, vindication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 18:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8220968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfenM/pseuds/WolfenM
Summary: Tony seeks to convince people that Bucky Barnes is innocent. Also, Bucky and Steve have a big announcement to make.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Steve Rogers / Captain America, James "Bucky" Barnes / The Winter Soldier, Tony Stark / Iron Man, T'Challa / Black Panther, The Vision, Sam Wilson / Falcon, FRIDAY, Wanda Maximoff / Scarlett Witch, Natasha Romanov / Black Widow, Clint Barton / Hawkeye, Scott Lang / Ant-Man, Helmut Zemo, Becca Barnes, Sarah Rogers, Mr and Mrs Barnes, and Kasumba all © Marvel Entertainment. Characters not used with permission. No profit is being made from this work.
> 
> You need to have read "Auras" to get this story. There was a story between "Auras" and this one ("Second Chance at a First Time", for A03 members only), but it was pretty much all smut, and not necessary to understand this one.

(O)  
Tony wasn't done with Bucky's arm.

Normally that would mean not leaving the lab for days, until a prototype was finished, but Tony had some questions for Bucky. He wasn't about to interrupt the love birds, o he reckoned the best thing to do was head to the cafeteria and hang out until they needed to eat, praying the guys didn't just order room service (like _he_ would have). There was just one problem with his plan: he hadn't reckoned on other company.

He almost backpedaled when his eyes met Clint's, the phrase "If looks could kill" taking on extra significance when applied to a man known as "Hawkeye". (That other guy from the fight, from Cap's side, now sitting across from Clint, was glaring too. Since Tony couldn't even remember the dude's name, that didn't mean much to Tony -- unless the guy had somehow recovered his size-changing suit? In which case, Tony wasn't afraid so much as he wanted to study the hell out of said suit ....) Wanda, to Clint's right, was a tad more welcoming, but only just. Smiling Vision, sitting across from Wanda, was a sight for sore eyes, but what was he _doing_ there? Tony hadn't sent for him. Natasha, to Clint's left, was smiling too, but in Tony's experience, that wasn't likely a good thing .... Sam, sitting across from Natasha, nodded, as did T'Challa, sitting at the head of the table, between Natasha and Sam, opposite where Tony stood.

"Hail, hail, the gang's all here!" Tony greeted. "Any chance I can join the cool kid's table?"

"No," Clint replied before yelping, Natasha and Wanda apparently _both_ kicking him under the table.

"I think he's realised the error of his ways -- just as I have," T'Challa told Clint.

"He helped Barnes," Sam weighed in. "Now Cap's happier than I've ever seen him."

"And I'm happy for Cap, but I have no idea when I'll see my _children_ again," Clint growled.

"Or when I'll see my _daughter_ ," the tiny-giant-guy added coldly.

Tony felt a sizable twinge of guilt, but before he could even _begin_ to apologise, someone turned the sound up on a nearby TV.

" _I come before you to make a confession,_ " T'Challa was saying at a press conference. " _I tried to murder an innocent man: James Barnes, the person I'd mistakenly believed responsible for the deaths of many attendees of the summit for the Sakovian Accords -- including my father, our late king._ " TV T'Challa paused to let the reporter murmurs die down (and compose himself).

Tony, sitting now, and the others looked to the live T'Challa, who shrugged. "The news outlets have been re-running it, in the hopes of reaching as many as possible, but media outside my country has not picked it up -- _despite_ my even speaking in English."

"Because stories of innocence don't draw people in like stories of guilt," tiny-giant-guy muttered.

" _Indeed_ ," TV T'Challa continued, " _at one point, I even_ confronted _Barnes, when he told me he didn't kill my father -- I asked him why he ran, then, but I did not give him a chance to answer, assuming there could be no reason to flee but guilt. I_ should _have given him that chance. It has since occurred to me that_ anyone _threatened with death will either try to escape or stand and fight; it is unreasonable to_ expect _anyone to stand still to be executed. And Barnes has shown himself reluctant to harm, hence him fleeing instead of fighting._

" _Further, I have since realised that he had another good reason to run besides his own safety, or even the well-being of those charged with his capture: fear that the brainwashing he suffered under HYDRA would be reactivated, and so he would be used to harm_ innocents _. I don't know how much attention anyone else has paid to the HYDRA documents regarding Mr Barnes -- I had not read the documents myself until after all this -- but believe me when I say that he is a man who was horribly abused, and who is in need and well deserving of our compassion. In that light, we should also grant compassion to those who protected him and are now thus on the run themselves. I urge the nations of the world to exonerate them_ all."

"Your Highness, if I might have a word," Tony said distractedly, eyes still on the TV as the gears in his head whirled and he got to his feet.

=*=  
Steve managed to get himself out of bed around 7:30 a.m., dragging Bucky with him. He had a notion that, if Bucky still had his metal arm, nothing short of breaking the bedpost would have worked. And really, Steve would have been happy to sleep in, but he hoped to catch T'Challa during breakfast, before the man had to go run a country ....

He was surprised to learn T'Challa was supposed to be in the cafeteria -- didn't the man have a private dining room or something? The king wasn't there, though, when Steve and Bucky arrived, hair still dripping from a shared shower (thankfully the room's closest was stocked with clothes).

A bunch of other people were there, though. Sam had arrived with Steve the day before. Steve had called Clint, Wanda, and Scott, so they were there now. Natasha was a pleasant surprise. And ....

"Vision!" Steve wasn't sure if this surprise was pleasant or not. Instinctively, he put himself between the synthoid and Bucky, never mind that there was already a table-ful of people in the way.

"Captain," Vision nodded. "I hope you don't mind, but T'Challa called me to put my mind at ease regarding Tony's well-being, seeing as Tony will be staying here for a bit to work on your friend's arm. His Highness then thought it might be beneficial to have as many of the Avengers as possible here to brainstorm a plan of action."

"Except Rhodey," Steve observed with a pang as he sat at the head of the table, Tasha making room for Bucky beside her. Steve already wouldn't have expected Thor and Bruce, but he wished they were here. Tony, he reckoned was in the lab, and T'Challa had other responsibilities ....

"Between Rhodey's injury and his ... _strong_ sympathy to the accords and loyalty to the US Army, we felt it best to let him sit this one out," Vision explained.

"He was the other guy in a metal suit, right? How bad was he hurt?" Bucky asked, looking apologetic; Steve reckoned Buck was still blaming himself for the rift in the Avengers, even though the Accords came about first.

Vision looked morose; Wanda took his hand. "I don't know if Tony had the chance to tell you, but Rhodey was paralysed at the Airport. He is still acclimating to the exoskeleton."

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve saw Bucky's shoulder wiggle, then saw Bucky's look down at the shoulder, face clouding. With another pang, Steve realised Bucky had meant to take his right hand. He was gratified when Bucky stretched out with his right hand instead, even if it was a little awkward. They would always find ways around their troubles -- Steve had to believe that ....

"Oh. My. God!" Natasha exclaimed, her eyes on Steve and Bucky's joined hands. "Are you two--?? Why didn't you _tell_ me, you _jerk_!? All that time I was trying to set you up with _girls_ ...."

She reached around Bucky and smacked Steve upside the head. Steve felt Bucky tense, and tightened his hand on Bucky's.

"Tash, that's _not_ it. I loved Peggy too -- I'm bi, I guess. And just not really looking."

"Well, I hope you aren't _now_ , not with _that_ on your finger, pal," Bucky quipped, tapping the ring on Steve's other hand.

They grinned, then kissed as Natasha choked out, "You're _engaged??_ " Steve thought she was going to clobber him, but instead, she squealed and tackle-hugged him, the others clapping and cheering and calling out congratulations, Sam patting him on the back.

"I'm Best Man, right?" Tasha added.

"No way! _I'm_ Best Man!" Sam protested.

"Since I pretty much only know Steve, why don't you _both_ be his best man, since I'm kinda marrying the only close friend I got left?" Bucky suggested.

The table went quiet, Tasha and Sam exchanging heartbroken glances over Bucky. After how much Sam had seemed to dislike Bucky before, Steve was relieved to see Sam so sympathetic now.

Tony and T'Challa approached just then.

"Oh good, you're here! I have an idea ...." Tony began, and shared it.

"No, absolutely not," Steve told him when he was done. "You are _not_ making him go through all that _again!_ "

Bucky squeezed his hand. "He wouldn't be _making_ me do anything. I _want_ to do this. The people of the world can love or hate me after, but let them do it with the whole story. Who does it serve to hide it? It certainly doesn't help _me_ \-- or you, or any of your friends."

"And if the governments of the world decide you're too dangerous to let live?" Steve protested.

"Then I won't be any worse off," Bucky pointed out. "They already gave out a shoot-to-kill order on me. But if I do this, and the right people sympathise, then _all_ of us can go _home_ \-- you and I can go back to _New York_. That's something I've wanted since I left for Europe over seventy-five years ago!" he added pleadingly.

Steve deeply hated this idea, but he was determined to never let anyone take away Bucky's choices ever again. "All right. If that's what you want, I'm all in."

"Thank you." Bucky smiled, clearly relieved; Steve felt a little better.

"There's just one thing," Tasha weighed in. "Why should anyone _believe_ him?"

"Well, first, I go demonstrate this new tech to the President of the US of A," Tony explained. "I'll throw a little shindig, and present it as a party game. I convince him and a bunch of other important people that it works -- and that it's impossible to _lie_ to Freud."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can Tony talk Rhodey and Pepper into helping to vindicate Bucky and the outlaw half of the Avengers?

(O)  
Tony knew he needed someone outside of Wakanda besides Vision to help him. Someone with some influence in DC. Someone who could not only help convince people of the validity of Freud (as he'd taken to calling BARF instead), but also convince everyone that the Sokovia Accords, in their current state, should be tossed out. 

He needed his best friend. He just prayed Rhodey would still _be_ that when he was done. 

The moment Tony and Vision arrived back at the Avengers complex, and found Rhodey and _Pepper_ sitting down to lunch together in the living room, though, Tony thought, for at least a second, maybe he might _murder_ his _ex_ -best friend. 

_Whoa, there, cowboy, rein it in! They're just having lunch! They're friends -- of course Pepper would visit him after a traumatic injury! ... And if this is more than lunch, they're adults, and you and Pepper are taking a break. If, during that break, she's figured out that Rhodey is more stable and reliable and mature, can you blame her for moving on ...?_ Honestly, he'd been thinking for a while now that maybe he should let her go. At least _this_ way he'd know she was in good hands -- certainly better ones than his own .... 

"Oh, hey, man!" Rhodey greeted. 

"Tony ...." Pepper suddenly looked like she'd rather be _any_ where else. 

Tony was a little proud of himself for not falling to pieces. If he came off a little coldly now, it was still better than the alternative! "Rhodey, we need to talk. About the Avengers, the Accords ...." 

"Sure, man," Rhodey said, looking wary even as he agreed. "This have anything to do with why you been gone a couple days?" 

"Completely," Tony confessed. "I was helping Barnes undo his programming, then working on a new arm for him." 

Rhodey paused before taking a bite out of his sandwich, laying it down instead, pushing his plate away and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Are you telling me you were _associating with a wanted man?_ " 

"Yes, in Wakanda, where he's been granted asylum." 

"And ... you're _cool_ with that??" 

Tony nodded. "Finish your lunch. There's some stuff you need to see, and you're not gonna wanna be eating when you do." 

Pepper had watched their exchange with a furrowed brow, head turning back and forth as if they were playing tennis. "Ah, I'll just get out of your way." 

Something occurred to Tony then. "No, stay! Please!" he hurriedly added. "We could use your help." She probably had more ins on the administrative side of Washington than Rhodey. (No, this was _not_ just an excuse to spend more time with her, thank you very much!) 

Pepper hesitantly nodded, resuming her lunch. 

Tony had gotten permission from Bucky to keep the recording Freud had made of the memories they had witnessed, along with Bucky's commentary, as evidence of his ordeal. Tony showed the material (sans the pre-war stuff and anything super-personal but not important to the narrative) to Rhodey and Pepper now. 

When they reached the part where the Winter Soldier killed his parents, Tony closed his eyes, trying not to listen to Ghost-Bucky's pleading. Pepper and Rhodey, sitting to either side of him, each took one of his hands, lending him the strength to get through it. When it was done, he paused the subsequent scene, weirdly gratified to see Rhodey and Pepper looking green around the gills. 

"Moment of truth time, Pep." He had told Rhodey and Viz this part already, when he'd come back from Siberia. "How much do you know about what went down with the Avengers, Cap, Barnes ...?" 

She shrugged uncomfortably, but kept ahold of his hand. "The news initially said Barnes had set off a bomb outside that building, and was on the run. Then they said he'd been taken into custody -- and Steve and Sam were also arrested, for aiding and abetting his attempt to evade capture. They said Barnes escaped, and that Steve and Sam were also with him. I know there was a big blow-up amongst the Avengers at that airport, and that the king of Wakanda was also there. They said several Avengers -- ones who didn't sign the accords -- had been taken into custody for damaging the airport and for aiding and abetting Barnes, who escaped with Steve. Rhodey filled me in more on that. And then the news said that the king of Wakanda trailed Steve and Bucky to Siberia, where he discovered that a man named Zemo had framed Barnes as part of some convoluted revenge plot, and that Steve and Barnes escaped." 

Tony put on Freud's glasses and showed them what the news left out. (He was pleased to see Rhodey fume over the existence of The Raft.) 

"So basically, I straight-up tried to _murder_ Barnes," Tony summarized when it was all done. " _Now_ , though, I'm trying to give the guy his life back." 

He almost called in his Iron Man glove then, fearing Pepper might break his hand, she squeezed so hard. He got relief when she threw her arms around him, but then his ribs were at risk .... 

"Tony, anyone would have lost it in that situation! But even so, you came around, and now you're doing the right thing. You can't undo the past, but you're doing better going forward. You've helped Barnes in a way that I doubt anyone else could -- and you're _still_ helping. I'm _proud_ of you!" 

"Really?" He barely managed a whisper past the sudden lump in his throat. 

She pulled back, taking his face in her hands. "Really," she assured him, then kissed him. She seemed to be making up for lost time. 

Trying to be a responsible adult, Tony breathlessly suggested they get back to Bucky's story. Pepper suddenly seemed to remember that Rhodey and Vision were in the room, and smoothed herself into business mode, nodding. (Still, he thought maybe there was a hint of disappointment there ....) 

When the memory-show was done, Rhodey spoke up. "Okay. Barnes was undeniably innocent and horrifically abused, and the kill order given for him was unjustifiable -- I _think_ we can get the people who need to, to accept that any damage he brought about while on the run was in self-defence, and get him pardoned. The _others_ , though -- _that's_ a little trickier. The were warned about what would and wouldn't be acceptable if they didn't sign the accords, and they refused." 

"Well, what if all the signatories of the accords vouch for those Avengers _and_ call into question the legitimacy of the accords?" Tony suggested. 

"Tone ... I believe in the accords. I'm _not_ going to undermine them!" 

"Look, I'm not saying oversight isn't a good idea at all, but hear me out. Or rather, here _Viz_ out." 

Tony pointed to Vision, who nodded. He and the synthoid had gone back and forth a lot about the situation, examining everything from every angle. 

"Viz, you thought the accords were a good idea too!" Rhodey protested before the synthoid even started. 

"Yes, well ... what happened to you -- what _I did_ \-- made me realise that no amount of oversight can prevent mistakes -- especially when the oversight _itself_ is deeply flawed." Vision began to pace; Tony wondered when the synthoid had added that affectation to his repertoire .... "We never should have been fighting Captain Rogers or our teammates in the first place -- and we _wouldn't_ have, if not directed to do so by Secretary Ross, a man who gave orders based on incomplete information and assumptions, and refused to even _remotely_ entertain the possibility that Rogers was right about a situation he clearly had the most experience regarding. 

"Ross criticised the Avengers' ability to control and track the Hulk, yet it was literally the man's own job to do so himself for _years_ , and he failed completely. Meanwhile, that task had _never_ been _officially_ assigned to the Avengers. 

"He blamed the Avengers for Lagos, but what was the alternative? That Wanda not even _try_ to remove Rumlow, and thus allow everyone in the market to die? Or perhaps Captain Rogers should strive more to be a souless automaton, erase all his memories and interpersonal relations, so there's no chance his humanity might be used against him? Or perhaps the Avengers should have let Rumlow just keep the biological agent he lifted? Perhaps they should run every possibility past a committee, rather than make decisions in the field the way military leaders and police do all the time? 

"Except ... Ross, who is part of the current oversight committee, blamed the damage to New York on the Avengers, when it was actually _Loki_ who brought the Chitauri army there, and the World Security Council wanted to _nuke_ the city; the Avengers kept damage and deaths to a minimum in spite of those factors. So their first experience with a committee was already a bad one." 

"But didn't you say it was the presence of superpowers that invited the Chitauri in the first place? That they saw it as a challenge?" Rhodey pointed out. "So that means the Avengers are a threat just by existing!" 

Vision shook his head. "I've since researched some things, and reflected. It occurs to me that the Tesseract was already here a couple thousand years ago; it stands to reason that someone would come for it sooner or later. Thor's arrival was a spillover from Asgardian issues, not something humanity invited. The Inhumans are the result of Kree experimenting on _primal_ humans, so humanity having intelligence and technology wasn't the draw; their lack of _defense_ was. 

"Captain America was created in response to the Red Skull. Even Tony making the suit was in response to Ten Rings and Obadiah Stane. And _I_ was created to combat Ultron -- Good is the response to Evil, not the other way around. Evil exists to subjugate others, to take, to kill, not to battle Good. It would still exist even if Good didn't. But even if I'm wrong in my conclusions, it's too late now: the danger is already here. If the Avengers disband, who would be left to defend the Earth? 

"All right, but oversight is still a good idea," Rhodey insisted. 

"Sure it is," Tony agreed. "And you know who gives it best? Rogers. He was horrified over Ultron -- that monster never would have existed if I hadn't hidden my work from Cap and the rest of the Avengers. And why did I hide it? Because I knew Cap and Thor would stop me. Meanwhile, Wanda and her brother got themselves superpowers because, under the encouragement of the US government, _I_ created weapons that killed their family. 

"People, including Zemo, lost their families and lives in Sokovia because of _my_ willfull actions -- literally everything Ross laid at the Avenger's feet was either an accident, the result of an enemy's actions, or was _my_ fault. _I'm_ the one who needs oversight. And Cap -- a man who has ultimately succeeded more often than he's failed, who led a tiny team successfully against an alien invasion, who controlled the Hulk without any special techniques, who protected his best friend from me without _killing_ me, and who would have kept me from creating Ultron in the first place -- is the best person for that job. 

"Not the people who rushed us into signing something we had no input in creating, but which would have a monumental impact on our lives. Not the people who create laws that apply _only_ to a specific group of individuals based on their biology, or who would try to monopolise people with those abilities and prohibit their agency. Not the people who would have nuked New York, or who put a kill-order out on a man to avoid giving him a fair trial, or who put our friends in an _illegal_ off-shore prison, or who, for all we know, might still be infected with HYDRA. Not people who might prevent us from saving someone in a country they have a beef with, or use us as a bargaining chip." 

Rhodey was silent for an agonisingly long time, Pepper watching him and Tony both with worry in her eyes. Tony was just about to crack and beg Rhodey to say something, when Rhodey finally offered, "My paralysis ... it wasn't your fault, Viz. _I_ ordered you to take Sam out. I underestimated his manoeuvrability. You're right -- sometimes mistakes are made -- and _this_ mistake never would have even had the chance to be _made_ , if not for our wrongful orders." Rhodey took a deep breath. "I'm in. Let's get the accords ripped up, and our friends back here where they belong." 

"I'm in too." Pepper smiled, and that felt even better than Rhodey's agreement. "Now hand over that copy of the accords to me, like you should have done in the first place." 

While Pepper looked things over, Tony had a thought. He went into his room, where he'd stored the shield -- alongside a pouch. Tony had felt the shield and the contents of said pouch belonged together; he still felt that way, but he no longer felt that the shield belonged to _him_ .... 

=*=  
"So how'd it go?" Steve asked as Tony disembarked the plane. 

The appearance of not just one, but _two_ familiar faces behind Tony answered that question: it had gone even better than expected! 

"Rhodey!" Steve greeted, gripping the man's hand and pulling him close as soon as he was able. "Pepper!" he greeted next with a delighted hug. He wondered if this meant Pepper and Tonh had gotten back together -- he hoped so! But he was afraid it _didn't_ , so instead of asking about that, he gestured to something at Tony's side. "What's in the second case?" Freud was in the first; he recognised it .... 

"Something that belongs to you," Tony replied, his mien far more serious than Steve was used to from the man. And suddenly, Steve understood. 

"Tony ... are you sure?" 

Tony nodded. "He made it for _you_ ; the very reason I took it from you shows how it wasn't meant for me. You could have killed me with it but didn't; I _would_ have killed Bucky. You never would have lost sight of what's right like that." 

Steve's heart ached for the man. "Tony--" 

"Hey, it's fine. My dad wasn't worthy either! I'm not saying he had no sense of altruism, but you can bet that nothing he did was done without him getting _something_ out of it. Besides, he gave me plenty else -- like his intelligence. Now take this damn thing; it's heavy!" He shoved it into Steve's hands and walked on. "Give me an hour to settle in, then bring your fiancé to the lab so we can work on the arm, 'kay?" he called over his shoulder. 

"Pepper and I are gonna start makin' calls. We'll catch up later, man," Rhodey added, he and Pepper following after Tony. 

Bucky was still asleep when Steve got back to their room. Steve laid the suitcase on the dresser and opened it -- he hadn't realised until he'd given the shield up just how much a part of him it had become, and he was anxious to feel it in his hands again. Well, and there was the worry Tony had done something to it, in an effort to "make it better", like add missiles to it or something. But no, it seemed fine -- save that there was something on it: a small pouch had been tied to one of the handles in the back.  >

Inside was a note, written in Tony's hand, and a little ball of metal, the size of a typical marble. 

_You know there were several shields made; there was just a little bit of ore left, which Dad held onto for luck. Call me sentimental, even superstitious, but I can't help but feel the more vibranium you have, the luckier you'd be._

Steve immediately went to the lab, and was unsurprised to find Tony there already. 

"Dude, I said an hour!" Tony complained around a mouthful of sandwich. "It's only been twenty minutes!" 

"Is this--" Steve held up the marble "--enough to make one of these?" He held up his left hand, wiggling his ring finger, with his engagement ring. 

Tony looked back and forth between the two items, brows raised in surprise. "Should be just enough, yeah!" Then he grinned as he took the marble. "That's so sweet! You're a real sap, Rogers!" 

"I'm not done yet, either!" And Steve gave a few more details ....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the ore is a bit contrived, but I really wanted Steve to have something personal to give Bucky for a ring, and short of cutting up the shield itself, I couldn't think of anything else to use, LOL!
> 
> As for the talk Tony and Vision gave Rhodey and Pepper, it's based in part on an article I wrote [in defense of Team Cap](http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=2936).


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The press conference to sway the public about Bucky begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken so very long to get up!! I can't promise it won't be a while before the next chapter, either ....

(*)]]]]]]]]]  
"You nervous?" Steve asked, his hand wrapped tight enough around Bucky's that the metal ring was hot against Bucky's skin. 

"Maybe a little," Bucky admitted. "But more anxious to get this over with, and see how the world responds. Even if they decide I'm a monster, better to know than to wonder." 

"You're _not_ a monster," Steve insisted. "Even if the whole world believes it, that doesn't make it true." 

"I know," Bucky assured him, kissing Steve's knuckles. "I just kinda wanna know whether I can relax, or if I have to watch my back forever ...." 

"I'm _always_ gonna be watching your back, Buck. No matter the outcome today, there will always be threats. Just remember that there will _also_ always be people who are on your side, even if none of the governments of the world are. What comes next isn't the be-all, end-all, no matter which way it goes." 

"Prepare for the worst, hope for the best?" 

Steve nodded. "Still, now that the Avengers are a team again, I like our odds. We once fought off an alien invasion with only half as many people, after all." He smiled wryly. 

Bucky returned it. Then, "Hey, we should recruit that spider-kid, once he graduates. I'm not ashamed to say he handed our asses to us." 

"I thought we agreed to never speak of that again," Sam grumbled from the other side of Steve. 

The three chuckled. 

"All set?" Tony asked, coming up behind them with T'Challa. 

"Isn't that more of a question for _you?_ " Steve pointed out. 

"True enough," Tony laughed. "Well, Freud's set up, and Kasumba says their defences are ready, so--" 

"Defences?" Bucky interrupted, alarmed. "I thought the UN agreed to respect our amnesty with Wakanda for this summit!" 

"That does not mean that _everyone_ will respect that," T'Challa pointed out. 

"But your Highness, I-I don't want to put your people at risk!" Bucky protested. He never would gave agreed to Pepper revealing his location if the UN hadn't sworn no military action would be taken against the country harbouring him -- or against the fugitive Avengers. Granted, they were at the Wakandan Embassy in Washington DC right now, not Wakanda itself, but still .... 

T'Challa clapped a hand on Bucky's good shoulder, his smile dangerous. "My friend, it is a firm belief of my people that if we would _sacrifice_ one life for our own sake, then our own lives are not worth protecting. You were greatly wronged; we will not let more wrongs befall you by handing you over to anyone. Besides, I have great faith in Kasumba and the rest of my people. We will be fine." 

Bucky didn't know what to say to that. 

"I still don't understand why you need Bucky to do this," Steve pointed out to Tony. "You already have the recording!" 

"But recordings can be manipulated," Tony replied. "I mean, yeah, sure, there's always going to be some doubt about the validity of the memories, no matter what, but people will be more inclined to believe if they _see_ Bucky recalling the stuff live. Especially now that several trusted public figures have tried the device, with many others on-hand to witness it -- and those trusted people are here today, in the front row, to vouch for it." 

A stage had been set up in the Embassy's ballroom, with hundreds of chairs before it. Bucky and the others were waiting in a curtained area just off the stage. Bucky peeked through the slit between one curtain and the next, and recognised a few people -- including the American president, the prime ministers of Canada and the UK, and a few actors. 

Remembering that the audience would actually include millions sitting at home gave Bucky his first real case of stage fright in his life. Heading to a nearby trash can behind the stage, he emptied his stomach of what little food Steve had managed to talk him into eating that morning. 

"Baby, you all right?" Steve asked, rubbing Bucky's back and holding out a tissue. 

Bucky nodded, taking the tissue and wiping his mouth. "Just nerves," he assured his boyfriend, tossing the tissue, wishing he had a breath mint -- or a drink .... 

"Here," Tony said, holding out both a silver flask and an open box of mints. "My press-conference preparedness kit." 

"You a genie?" Bucky wondered, reaching for the flask and bringing it to his lips. 

"Just a tiny sip!" Steve warned. "Empty stomach now, remember?" 

Bucky nodded -- he really didn't need to be tipsy! (Although, how much risk was there with his super-soldier constitution . ..?) After a swig -- of vodka, it seemed (Tony did know Bucky wasn't _actually_ Russian, right?) -- Bucky reached for a mint, popping it in his mouth. 

His tongue was suddenly in sharp pain, and his eyes began to water, never mind that the alcohol hadn't prompted such a reaction. He quickly spit the candy out, complaining, "Ow!" 

Tony laughed. "Sorry, I guess I should have warned you!" He held up the box, which read "Curiously Strong" on the lid. 

Steve, shaking his head and shooting Tony an exasperated look, held out a strange little container with transparent green strips in it. "Just put one on your tongue," he instructed. "They don't exactly taste great, but ...." 

If it were anyone but Steve asking, Bucky would have refused. Instead, Bucky did as he was told, grimacing at the taste. (At least it didn't hurt ....) 

"Better?" Steve asked. 

Bucky nodded, not really wanting to speak a verbal lie. He could still taste the sour of his sick-up and the alcohol under the mint strip, and there hadn't been enough vodka to quell his nerves, thanks to his accelerated metabolism. At least there was nothing left in his stomach, and the mint had mostly settled his nausea .... 

They went back to the curtained-off area beside the stage to wait, while Tony walked up the steps, onto the raised platform. Wanda, Pepper, Vision, and even Rhodey gathered behind Bucky, Steve, and Sam; one by one, he felt them touch his shoulders, and the gestures soothed him. Steve wasn't the only one who had his back, he realised. 

On the stage, Tony began to speak. "Those of you here in person, you already know why you're here, so I'm gonna bore you for a moment while I explain to the good folks at home why we're interrupting their favourite show. To put it simply, we want to set the record straight about some things, most especially to exonerate the six people who are currently at the top of the world's most-wanted list. To that end, we must first provide some context. 

"As you may have heard, the Avengers were recently asked to sign a document that would, in retrospect, severely curtail our effectiveness. I and half the team signed, myself guilted into it because of catastrophic mistakes I've made. I realise now that I was really trying to let someone else take responsibility for my actions, let someone else make my decisions, because ... well, I've become kinda terrified of myself. And not without good reason. But what I failed to consider was that the act of handing over my decision-making ability was a decision in and of itself -- and considering who I was handing them over _to_ , probably not a good one, as the events that unfolded after the signing of the accords suggest. 

"You may recall how there was an explosion at the summit where the accords were to be signed, one in which many, including the King of Wakanda, lost their lives. Footage of one James Buchanan Barnes was aired; he was called an agent of Hydra, the Winter Soldier, and declared a suspect in the terrorist attack on the summit. This information was incomplete. What you were not told was that the _reason_ Mr Barnes -- aka Bucky, best friend of Captain America -- was an agent of HYDRA was because he'd been captured, tortured, and brainwashed for _decades_. What you also probably didn't know was that a kill-order had been placed on him after the summit explosion. No trial. Based on nothing more than grainy footage, Barnes was to be killed on sight." 

Tony touched his face -- and suddenly looked identical to Bucky! The crowd gasped. 

"It's frighteningly easy to look like someone else these days," said Tony's voice from Bucky's lips. "But I know what you're thinking -- 'Tony, not many people have access to that level of technology!' Still, with a security cam's grainyness, there's wiggle room; prosthetics will do just fine." 

Bucky jumped a little as someone said a polite "excuse me" and went up the steps, onto the stage, followed by three more people -- all of them looking remarkably like himself! There were murmurs as the men filed onto the stage. Bucky was nervous for them -- what if someone shot them in the hopes of killing him? Yes, they were probably wearing the same special lightweight kevlar Tony had given him, but not on their heads! Thankfully, after just a pregnant pause, they removed the latex from their faces, as well as wigs from their heads. 

It was Scott, Clint, and Tasha, who then took up guard-like stances at the back of the stage. 

"It's also really easy to doctor footage," Tony continued. 

A screen behind him came to life, showing the grainy footage in question. The man in it looked like Bucky -- until he suddenly looked like Tony. 

Tony restored his own face to its true state. "Well, of course Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, hurried off to try to save his long-lost best friend. And of course damage was done as Barnes tried to evade capture -- was he supposed to just stand there and be executed for something that, we learned later, he didn't do? Or worse, be recaptured by people who might use him as the Winter Soldier again, to hurt other innocents? 

"Thankfully, due to the intervention of Captain America, Barnes was taken alive. But soon after -- and unbeknownst to us -- a man named Helmut Zemo infiltrated the Joint Counter Terrorist Center, the installation where Barnes was held. Pretending to be a psychologist, Zemo used HYDRA's special password code on Barnes, awakening the Winter Soldier, who then fought his way out out of the building; I fought him face to face myself, and yeah, it was terrifying. That encounter certainly coloured my perspective of him -- but I didn't know about the brainwashing. Anyway, Rogers went after and captured him, and with help from Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, kept him locked up somewhere safe until they could be sure Barnes was himself again. 

"When Barnes _was_ back to his normal self, he came to the conclusion, based on things that Zemo had asked the Winter Soldier, that Zemo would be seeking a secret weapon in Siberia. Rogers then assembled the Avengers who had not signed the accords, as well as one other man, to go stop Zemo. 

"Thaddeus Ross, Secretary of State, gave me and those other Avengers who _had_ signed the accords -- War Machine, The Vision, and Black Widow -- along with King T'Challa and Spider-Man, 36 hours to bring Rogers in _our_ way; he never said explicitly, but given the kill order previously put out, I assumed that meant otherwise Barnes would be killed on sight, and anyone who interfered might likewise end up dead. 

"My team traced Captain America's team to an airport. There, Cap tried to tell me about Zemo, but ... well, I wouldn't listen. I was angry. I thought Cap was blinded by his memory of his friend; from my own interaction with him, I assumed Barnes to be a cold-blooded killer. I was angry with Cap for getting Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, and the man the world knows as Hawkeye, who was supposed to be retired, involved. So we fought. During the fight, the Black Widow traded sides, allowing Cap and Barnes to escape, while the rest of Cap's team sacrificed their own freedom to hold the rest of us off. 

"After the fight, my AI, FRIDAY, informed me that the doctor who was supposed to have interrogated Barnes was found dead -- and looking completely different from the man who had actually done the interrogating. In his hotel room, they found a mask that looked like Barnes. My AI also discovered footage that showed Zemo meeting with the doctor in question. Putting two and two together, she realised Zemo had framed Barnes. I shared this revelation with Ross, but he _refused_ to take it under consideration. 

"The captive Avengers had been taken to a prison on the ocean -- a situation my lawyers assure me is _illegal_. I went there and talked to Wilson, telling him that I now believed them, and asking about Cap's plan. I went to Siberia -- and unbeknownst to me, T'Challa followed. 

"There, I found and made peace with Rogers and Barnes. We found the weapons in question -- five more super-soldiers, in stasis ... all dead. Zemo hadn't wanted to use them; they were just a lure. He'd wanted to cause a rift in the Avengers, as revenge for the loss of his family in Sokovia. To that end, he showed us footage from a security camera ..." 

Tony took a deep, shaky breath, and Bucky found himself holding his own breath against sudden tears. He fought to remember that he had actually tried to prevent what happened -- only to realise that understanding did nothing to erase the sadness. 

"He showed us footage of the Winter Soldier killing my parents. And this time, it really was him, not someone disguised as him." Tony finished. 

Bucky's stomach twisted, but there was nothing left in it to be sick with, save the small sip of vodka. 

The crowed gasped and murmured. Tony held up a hand, and they quieted. "Rogers admitted he suspected it was the Winter Soldier who had killed them," Tony continued, "then tried to explain that Barnes had been brainwashed, but I wouldn't listen. All I could think about was the image of my parents being killed -- I wanted the man who'd done it dead, and taking into consideration the fact that the man hadn't been acting of his own free will, but rather had been violated, didn't serve that narrative, wouldn't give me a sense of justice fulfilled." 

As Tony spoke, Bucky felt Steve's grip tighten around his remaining hand. Bucky's heart hurt at the memory of the two friends fighting because of him; thankfully, the pair were friends again. Steve had had too few friends growing up; Bucky couldn't bear the thought of him losing any, especially not for Bucky's sake .... 

"So I stalked Barnes around that Hydra base like an animal -- and had the gall to feel betrayed when Rogers came between us, on the side of Barnes. Together, they broke the arc reactor in my Iron Man suit, to keep me from fighting anymore, then left me otherwise unharmed. 

"T'Challa, having witnessed Zemo confessing to us, followed the man while we fought -- and _caught_ him, rather than killed him. Realising that it was vengeance that had led to all this destruction, he gave up his own need for it. He came to me later, armed with HYDRA files demonstrating what had been done to Barnes, to convince me to give up my _own_ need for revenge. And he did! _Boy_ , did he. 

"Rogers had sent me an apology letter and a means by which to contact him if I needed help, so I used it, seeing if there was some way I could help _them_. I learned that Barnes was still worried about someone using the code on him to shift him into Winter Soldier mode. I offered up an invention of mine through which trauma patients can relive and re- _write_ memories, as a means of therapy. And it worked! The Winter Soldier can no longer be activated. And so we're hear today to ask you all to let him and the people who righteously defended him -- and who tried to protect the world from a _wave_ of Winter Soldiers -- have their lives back, along with the freedom to be the heroes the world needs. 

"It's worth noting that T'Challa has already started working towards this end, yet mainstream media in most countries have blatantly ignored this." 

A press conference with T'Challa aired on the screen behind Tony. Listening to what T'Challa said, Bucky was deeply touched. He looked to T'Challa and mouthed a thank you; T'Challa nodded with a smile. 

"Now, I don't speak German or Russian," Tony admitted, "so here's The Vision to translate to you the HYDRA files detailing the imprisonment, torture, and brainwashing of Sergeant Barnes over the course of seventy years. If you have a sensitive stomach, you may wish to plug your ears." 

Tony stepped back, and Vision took the stage. As he spoke, the screen behind him showed the original files, some of which included video footage. Bucky watched the audience grow increasingly horrified, and wondered if most people at home were similarly afflicted. It was surreal, looking at all that evidence -- someone else's memories, rather than his own -- like he was watching a documentary, as if it all happened to someone else. It was also therapeutic: looking at the Soldier as a poor soul horribly abused, Bucky was finally able to look at himself with compassion. Maybe someday he would even be able to _forgive_ himself .... 

Tony took the podium again. "These documents have been authenticated by numerous experts, all of whom have been recorded explaining how they did the authentication; you can see all that on buckyisinnocent.stark. I realise there will still be doubters, but for those of you less paranoid, I want to be as thorough as I can. Now, I can tell you from experience that as horrific as hearing about all that was, seeing it first-hand is even more horrifying, but before we get to that portion of our presentation, I need some people to vouch for Freud." Tony pulled the glasses out of his pocket, putting them on. An image of Sigmund Freud appeared on the stage. "Introduce yourself, Freud." 

"Hello, everyone. I am an artificial intelligence designed to create holographic imagery constructed by whomever wears these glasses, usually using memories. I then can analyse the imagery, including how the subject feels about whom they are visualising, which you will see manifested in auras over those people. I can even tell true perceptions from false ones." 

"But I know it's a lot to expect anyone to believe Freud," Tony chimed in, "so I recently asked some people to help me test it out at a charity dinner. Mr President, if you would be so kind?" He removed and held the glasses out. 

The president of the USA climbed the steps at the front of the stage, taking the glasses and slipping them on. "Having seen this technology demonstrated on myself and several others, I will say right off the bat that I believe Freud to genuinely be able to determine what is real and what is not, and accurately portray memories. But seeing is believing! I'd like for someone in the audience here to pose a short scenario from my memory, something involving my wife. I'll depict three versions of that scenario, only one of which will be true. After, Freud will tell us which is true, and my wife will verify if it's correct. Any suggestions?" 

Several were made. 

"Let's go with a date," the president decided. One memory showed them going to a movie, only for the president to realise at the ticket window that he'd forgotten his wallet. Another showed the president choking on an olive while drinking a martini, coughing, and the olive flying into someone else's martini. The last showed them skating together, and the president falling. All three showed a magenta aura above his wife. 

"You cheated," Freud said. "They are all at least _partially_ true. But the movie theatre memory is the only _completely_ true one." 

The first lady stood, turning to the crowd. "Freud's right -- about all of it," she confirmed. 

As the president removed the glasses and set them on the podium, Bucky realised his turn was coming, and steeled himself. 

"Thank you, Mr President, ma'am," Tony said as the president resumed his seat. "Now, Mr Barnes will have the chance to tell _his_ side of the story." 

Tony looked his way. Bucky reluctantly slipped free of Steve's grip, and suddenly felt like a balloon adrift, at the mercy of a storm ....


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky shares his side of things with the world, much to Steve's concern ....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the extreme delay! Happily, the next chapter is already written, as it was supposed to be part of this chapter, but ended up being long enough to be a chapter of its own. Still, Ima hold onto that one a bit until I get the final chapter half written, keep things spaced out ....

=*=  
Steve gasped as Bucky, head turned toward the audience, stumbled over a cord; thankfully, Tony was there to steady him. Steve heard Bucky mumble a quiet, chagrined thanks. Tony patted Bucky's good shoulder and headed towards Steve. 

"Sorry about that. My left side used to be a lot heavier, and I haven't gotten used to the change in my balance," Bucky told the crowd with a self-deprecating chuckle when he reached the podium, shyly brushing a lock of his mane behind his ear. 

Steve had desperately wanted to go up on the stage with Bucky, but Pepper had impressed upon them both how it would be best if he didn't, saying it would play upon people's sympathies better if Bucky looked alone, lost, vulnerable. Steve'd thought Bucky should at least get a haircut and wear a suit, but Pepper had nixed that notion as well, insisting that looking scruffy would add lost-puppy appeal. The icing on the cake, she added, would be if he went out in a tank top, scars visible -- and arm conspicuously missing. So that's how they were playing it, and damn if she wasn't right, especially with the hangdog look in Bucky's eyes and the skittish air about him. Steve wanted to gather him up in a big warm blanket and retreat to their room forever. 

Instead, Steve stayed at the side of the stage, gripping the railing to the stairs so hard, he left a handprint in the metal. He barely noticed Tony giving him a worried look and a pat on the shoulder as the man passed him while exiting the stage. 

"So, um. Anyway. Hi," Bucky greeted the world with a hesitant wave and a nervous smile. 

Chuckles, hellos, and waves rippled through the the audience. Though the response was friendly, Steve's heart was breaking for Bucky already. He watched helplessly as his beloved put the glasses on, Bucky about to open himself up to the world, make himself vulnerable to billions to a degree no one had ever done before. 

"I've been asked to show what I'd been up to since my last known whereabouts during the war, but ... I think giving some context from my and Steve's _younger_ days, first, would help explain some stuff." 

"Wait, _what?_ " Steve whispered. That was NOT the plan! He fully intended to grab Bucky and drag him off the stage, but two hands, one on each shoulder, stayed him. 

"Trust him!" Tony hissed. 

"Respect his choice," T'Challa whispered. 

Steve sighed, nodding. Even agreeing with them, it was a struggle to just stay where he was. 

On the stage, Bucky had been taking a few deep breaths. "Here goes ...." And he began to show that day on the playground, when their friendship was forged. Steve saw the soft smile on the present-day Bucky's face, and reckoned that Bucky was steeling himself with the happy memory. Steve tried not to be nervous about what Bucky might show next. 

Bucky moved on to some of the less happy times of their childhood -- like when they fought side-by-side against bullies, and when Bucky prayed for Stevie's recovery from pneumonia. Steve felt like Bucky was showcasing Steve instead of explaining himself: they saw several instances of little Stevie facing guys twice his size to defend kids who were often taller than Stevie themselves, Stevie gaining an aura that Freud interpreted as Bucky being proud of him. But _why_ was Bucky showing that? 

It soon made sense -- a little. While Bucky didn't show the more risqué moments (like when he got an erection wrestling with Stevie, or when he was drunk in Stevie's bed), even in the tame scenes he _did_ show, and even with years flying by in mere minutes, Freud was able to show the audience, via auras, how Bucky's feelings for Steve deepened from close friendship to romantic love. Bucky slowed the memories at times, focusing particularly on his conversation about love with his mother -- which had the crowd gasping and murmuring at the revelation of his love for Steve. He also showcased the night he and Stevie said goodbye at the World's Fair, and his horror when he got the letter from his mother that told him Steve had successfully enlisted. But why did Bucky felt the public needed to know he loved Steve? It might make _some_ people sympathetic, but it would harden the hearts of others .... 

Bucky showed the night he first killed a man, making it clear that killing was something he was extremely reluctant to do. He showed the night Steve rescued him, how devoted they were to each other, each refusing to leave the other behind. He showed the time he, as a sniper, killed a man that was about to kill Steve, and the night he killed an enemy officer right in front of that man's own child. 

When he showed his fall from the train, his terror, Steve had to grip both handrails he keep himself upright as his knees turned to water, reliving the worst moment of his life. It wasn't until he felt Sam's comforting hand on his back that he realised he was trembling. 

"I can tell him to stop," Sam whispered. 

Shaking his head no was all Steve could manage. If Bucky could get through this, Steve would, too. 

Bucky showed the world his capture and initial time in a cage (Freud pixelating the nudity), barely treated for his wounds, hosed down and left shivering, mocked by the guards. Peeking through the curtain, Steve was gratified to find many sympathetic faces in the audience, many wincing or even looking _outraged_ at the way Bucky had been treated. People began to cry when they witnessed Bucky's grief, his _devastation_ , upon hearing Steve was likely dead. As Bucky revealed the sorts of tortures he endured before his transformation into the Winter Soldier, the crowd looked murderous. 

Freud, who had been interpreting the auras all along, now said, "What you're about to see is a manifestation of Bucky's subconscious, illustrating how there was a part of him that fought against his programming, but was unsuccessful." 

And so they saw ghost!Bucky alternately begging his captors to stop while they continuously tortured his body, the Soldier, and pleading with that body on mission after mission, railing against what it did. Eventually, the ghost gave up, becoming little more than a translucent balloon floating a step behind his physical self -- until the night the Soldier was given the mission to kill Howard and the man's wife. As the ghost began to re-possess his shell, Freud explained how Bucky's captors had grown lax -- and how this moment led to those captors doubling-down on their brainwashing techniques, so it was well-nigh impossible for the ghost to reassert himself. Tears returned to the audience as they bore witness to the ghost railing against the Soldier during the murder of the Starks, then saw the ghost begging for death. 

The real Bucky wept openly himself -- as did Steve, who wished he could hold his beloved, wished he could end this whole thing. He glanced at Tony and found him standing with his eyes closed, tears streaming, lips a tight line, and fists clenched. At least _here_ , Steve could do something to help someone .... 

He clasped the man's shoulder, whispering, "You all right?" 

"No," Tony admitted, "but then, I have it easy compared to your poor boyfriend." 

"I wish I could be up there with him." 

"Maybe we should just end this -- surely the people of the world have seen enough?" 

Steve was very, very tempted, but ... "T'Challa was right -- it needs to be _his_ decision. He's in total control -- if he wanted to stop, he would." 

Tony nodded unhappily. 

Bucky didn't stop. 

After a few more missions, when the ghost was back to being a veritable balloon, the audience was shown the battle on the bridge. The ghost saw memory-Steve and becoming desperate to wake his body up -- until the ghost merged with the Soldier and grew, Freud explained, foggy-minded in the process. Next was the ghost/Soldier merge fighting his handlers, then Pierce interrogating the not-quite-Soldier, who seemed vulnerable and lost, like a helpless, frightened child. They saw the ghost/Soldier go through the brutal treatment again, until he was just the Soldier once more. And they saw the Soldier battle Steve -- and how their friendship,with the words Steve spoke triggering the memory of Bucky saying them to him in the first place, gave the ghost the chance to take his body back once and for all. 

Bucky flew through images of his life after that -- his days at the museum exhibit and at libraries, his hunting of HYDRA operatives, his peaceful months just trying to piece his life back together -- until the day he saw the newspaper that told him he was a wanted man. They saw him running from the government operatives, getting captured, being trapped in a plexiglass cell -- and being helpless as Zemo began using the code words. (Even though they had thoroughly determined the code would never effect him again, it still made Steve nervous to hear them.) 

"Thanks to Tony Stark and Freud here, those words will never awaken the Soldier again," Bucky assured the audience. "But when Zemo began to say them, it was my worst nightmare come to life: being forced under someone else's control and made into a killing machine again." 

And he showed them the Soldier's violent departure from the facility, and how Steve stopped him, keeping Bucky's helicopter grounded. 

"Steve has saved my life so many times, in so many ways. When he had every reason to give up on me, and everyone else in the world _had_ , he held on, figuratively and literally." The more he spoke, the rougher his voice grew, and tears began to fall. Steve realised that _this moment_ was why Bucky had shown the audience that he loved Steve: to convince them to pardon _Steve_ , not necessarily himself. "Whatever you decide to do with me, this world needs him -- his bravery and his compassion. Please, just ... don't deprive everyone _else_ of that. Let him and the Avengers come home, and give them back their autonomy." He paused, looking uncertain how to finish -- and extremely nervous, probably because the focus was now on him, rather than the holograms. "Thankyou," he finished hurriedly, removed the glasses as if they were burning him, and leaving them on the podium. He wiped his eyes as he started for the stairs. 

Steve was about to climb up the stairs, desperate to comfort him, but Tony pushed past Steve, putting him off-balance both physically and mentally. Tony drew Bucky back to the podium, the put an arm companionably around him -- and on the remainder of Bucky's shoulder, in what was doubtlessly a calculated effort to draw attention to the amputation, for sympathy. It was arguably vulgar, and Steve hated seeing Bucky being on display like that, hated seeing his boyfriend looking so anxious and vulnerable, but if it meant engendering sympathy and thus gaining Bucky's freedom .... Steve fought down his own anxiety, deciding to wait and see what Stark was up to. 

"Now, some of you are probably thinking that there's still a chance that this all could have been staged," Tony mused. "But since the tech is mine, that would mean _I_ was the one who staged everything. So I ask you, why would I do that? Why would I help the man who's hands took my parents from me, unless I believed he was as much of a victim as they were? Why would I plead clemency for the Avengers who, unlike me, _didn't_ sign the accords, if I hadn't concluded that they were _right_ to not sign, and right to protect Barnes? Please think on that -- and if you agree, contact the United Nations to urge a pardon for Barnes and the fugitive Avengers. Thank you for your consideration." 

The moment Tony released his hold, Bucky began to make a break for it. 

Steve rushed up on the stage then, wrapping his arms around Bucky, his own face as damp as his boyfriend's. He was gratified when Bucky returned the hug, albeit one-armed, just as fiercely, quietly sobbing into Steve's neck. For a moment, that embrace was their entire existence. 

It was only natural they would kiss. 

When they came up for air, resting their foreheads together, Steve realised the world had grown eerily quiet. He turned to the crowd with trepidation. Had they just destroyed any chance they had to live in the US again? Could the country -- the world, even -- accept a bisexual Captain America? If they couldn't, would they punish Bucky for his part in "ruining" their icon? Well, maybe it was better to have all the cards on the table, rather than go home only to have the country turn on them later. 

_In for a penny ...._ "Buck, can you handle a few minutes more?" he whispered. 

Steve saw fear for just a fleeting second, before Bucky nodded, squeezing Steve's hand. "Just ... don't let go." 

"Never," Steve promised, then gently pulled Bucky back to the podium. "Bucky's had his say. He defended me. Now it's my turn." 

He showed them as many of the same scenes as he could, from his perspective, all the times that Bucky stood up for him. He also included the talk with Mr Barrow, and the one with his own mother. He included a snippet of what Bucky hadn't: the moment on the bed where Bucky began necking him, culminating in Stevie telling his friend that he loved him. He showed when he'd been told that Bucky's unit were all presumed dead, his desperation to find Bucky at the HYDRA facility -- and how he freed all those other men along the way. 

"Hate me if you want, but I'm not sure I would have found to drive to rescue that missing regiment if Bucky hadn't been part of it -- I probably would have written them off like the army already had." 

He showed how devastated he was when Bucky fell. He showed something he hadn't shown Bucky, or ever told _anyone_ about: a moment, alone in a bathroom, where Steve held a razor to his wrist. The present day Bucky gasped; Steve didn't look, but he could feel Bucky's heartbroken stare as much as he could feel Bucky's near-crushing grip on his fingers. Memory-Steve then shook his head and put the razor down. "The only reason I didn't do it was because I couldn't bear the thought of what Bucky would think. But when that plane was going down into the Arctic, I was _relieved_ , because it excused me from having to live another day without him." 

He looked to Bucky then, heart twinging in both a bad way, because of the distress he found there, and a good way, because here was his Bucky, alive. He brushed a damp strand from his fiance's brow, then kissed it, before turning back to the audience. 

"And now, I have him back. Moreover, now we live in a world where we can be together in a way we never could in our own time -- not just as friends, or even just as lovers ..." he raised their joined hands, revealing the ring to the audience, "... but as an engaged couple -- and, soon, a _married_ one." There were loud gasps and murmurs. "I _hope_ our wedding will happen in Brooklyn. But while that's where we were born and raised, home for me is wherever _Bucky_ is. We're a package deal. Anyone who intends him harm will have to go through me first." 

Bucky leaned towards the mic. "And the reverse is also true. I may not be under HYDRA's control anymore, but I do still have the skills. No one touches Steve Rogers. Not while I'm around." 

Steve's heart swelled. Once upon a time, that sentiment inspired both affection and guilt in Steve; now that Steve could take care of himself, it was like the guilt transformed into even more affection. He used to think Bucky stayed around because Steve was too frail to be on his own; now he knew it was because Bucky loved him, pure and simple. And suddenly, Steve didn't care if the US didn't welcome them back -- any world that hated their love wasn't with worth having anyway. 

But going by the standing ovation they got as they left the stage, maybe there was hope for the world yet ....


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and Tasha spend some quality time together, and Bucky gets a new arm -- with a surprise or two.

(*)]]]]]]]]]  
They both needed a nap after such an afternoon, but while he did manage to relax some in Steve's arms, Bucky woke before his lover, thoughts racing. He decided to see if his body could outrun his brain, leaving a note so Steve wouldn't worry. 

He yelped as, after closing the door, he suddenly found Natasha standing in front of him, looking murderous. 

"Try to run, and I break your legs," she promised in Russian. 

"But ... running clears my head!" he protested back in Russian, confused. Then he realised she hadn't meant just running as exercise. 

"Oh!" they exclaimed at the same time, Natasha apparently realising just then that he wasn't trying to run away. 

"How's about I join you?" Natasha asked, in English this time. 

Bucky wasn't thrilled with the idea, preferring to be alone, but he understood the need for compromise. Thankfully, she was so silent that, not long into their run around the embassy, he all but forgot she was there. Unfortunately, the run didn't serve its purpose, since balancing with an arm missing was tricky and kept yanking him out of the trance he was aiming for; after about five miles of stumbling, he gave up. 

"You wanna grab a coffee and talk about it?" Natasha offered. 

He winced. "No offense, but not really." He started to head back to the room he shared with Steve, but she stepped in his path. 

"Look. I get that talking about your feelings is like getting a tooth pulled -- believe me when I say that _listening_ to them isn't high on my list of ways to spend the afternoon either. But I'll do it for _Steve's_ sake. Won't _you?_ " 

He sighed, nodding. She grabbed his hand, dragging him to the cafeteria, clearly eager to get their talk over and done with. She directed him to sit while she fetched their drinks, placed one before him, and sat staring at him like a cat eying a mouse. He drank from his cup, trying to buy time, but all that served to do was burn his tongue. 

"You're feeling guilty, that much I can tell," she observed. "About the things you were made to do?" 

He pondered that while studying the surface of his coffee. "Maybe a little -- and I probably always will feel guilty for that, even though I _know_ that it wasn't my fault. But no, that's not what's eating at me the _most_ right now. It's ... it's what Steve said at the press conference, about him not going home if _I_ can't. I wouldn't abandon him, not after all he's said and done for me ... and, really, it would kill me to leave him ... but I also don't want him to lose any more than he already has because of me! I'm gonna have a target on my back for the rest of my life for the things Hydra made me do, and now he'll have one too. I wish ... I wish HYDRA had never found me, that I'd just ... died in that valley!" It was a miracle he didn't crush his coffee cup, or send it flying in his frustration. He tried to be pleased that he'd shown restraint, but he just couldn't seem to do it, all positive emotions out of reach -- save for his love for Steve, which seemed thoroughly, inescapably interlocked with his negative thoughts. 

Natasha's face was unreadable as she got to her feet, cardboard coffee cup in hand, and walked past him, tugging at his short braid as she went. "Come on." 

He followed her to what turned out to be her room. She grabbed a laptop from the dresser and sat on her bed, patting the duvet. Warily, he accepted the invitation, sitting carefully beside her. She reminded him of Liza, the woman who had seduced him when he was a teen -- but surely Natasha, Steve's friend, wasn't going to try making any advances towards him! 

"First, let me say you seem to be forgetting an important point: before helping you, Steve was already on people's shit-list for not signing the accords. Plus, he's made plenty of enemies on his own, including in the US government. Also, with that shield of his, he already carries a literal target on his back," she added with a wink. "But even with your own enemies factored in, no one, including his _own/I > enemies, can get him in the back if you're already there guarding it." _

Well, when she put it _that_ way .... 

"Anyway," she went on, "sooner or later, he would have used his abilities to save someone, been blamed for collateral damage, and become a fugitive, with or without you. In fact, if only one of you were to be forgiven, it's more likely it would be _you_ than _him_ , after that show we put on for the press. You and Stark and Steve played the sympathy card _damn_ well ...." 

Bucky gaped at her. "Don't you _believe_ what we said?" 

"Absolutely. But it was presented in a way that milked the sympathy for all it's worth." 

"I wasn't _trying_ to--" 

"I know it wasn't your intention, but it happened, all the same. Nothing wrong with that. And you probably did earn _some_ sympathy for Steve, too -- but there are probably people who see him as too willing to act on his feelings, and screw what anyone else thinks. That makes him, in their eyes, unreliable -- he can't be controlled. Meanwhile, those people would see _you_ as controllable, given what you went through, so they would be more accepting of you." 

"But I've been cured!" 

"And tyat will satusfy tge ones who are afraid if Hydra. Otgers will reckon, if you could be made to submit once before, they might be able to do that to you themselves, starting the process over." 

Bucky broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn't considered that .... 

"Understand, I don't think someone _could_ do that again," she went on, apparently reading his mind. "From what Tony's said, your treatment with Freud rewrote your neural pathways in such a way as to safeguard against the procedure ever being done to you again -- shored up your defences, so to speak. But what people perceive is generally what they _want_ to, regardless of the truth. In this case, their mistaken belief that you can still be manipulated works in your favor, so yay. Point is, whether or not Steve is allowed home has nothing to do with you. 

"Now, as to whether or not it would have been better for Steve if you hadn't survived the fall ... it seemed to me, before he knew you were alive, he was on an ongoing suicide mission. Not that he was trying to kill himself, exactly, but ever-hoping the next mission would end him, because he couldn't let people down by ending himself. But when you turned out to be alive, he was like a different person. Here, I'll show you what I mean. I'm sure you've seen this footage ...." 

A moment later, he saw a silent, black-and-white video of himself and Steve, laughing during the war. "I'd never seen him smile like that in person. And believe me, I've tried to get him to!" 

She opened an album, flipping through pictures of the Avengers having downtime. It wasn't that Steve _never_ smiled, but it seemed rare, and it never really reached his eyes. And there were more than a few pictures where he looked downright grim. He seemed to keep his distance from everyone, too. 

"After the Triskellion, he wasn't much happier, but he at least had something to _live_ for -- _you_."" 

Steve looked livelier in these photos, smiling a little more genuinely. He seemed more of a participant than a bystander in his own life, sitting with the others rather than apart. 

"And here he is lately." 

These were pictures she'd taken recently of Steve with Bucky, the pair constantly touching. There was a bit of sadness and worry in Steve's face, true, but even so, there were many broad smiles, playful grins, and so much fondness. Bucky was maybe a little more reserved and depressed-seeming in the images, but there was plenty of affection towards Steve evident, all the same. (If he were to look up the phrase "the look of love" on Google, he wouldn't be surprised to find one of these pictures ....) 

"Steve was just going through the motions until he knew your were alive," Natasha continued. "Maybe love for just one person isn't, mentally, the healthiest reason to live -- some might even call you both co-dependent -- but then again, it's better than not having any reason at _all_. And I can certainly think of _worse_ reasons to stay alive ...." 

"But he keeps _risking_ his life for me!" Bucky protested. 

"Well, that's the funny thing about life -- what's worth dying for is often the exact same thing as what's what's worth living for. Kind of a package deal -- can't have one without the other." 

"But ... if he's staying alive for me, what happens if, someday, he finally realises that I'm no longer the man he fell in love with?" For all Steve's insistence that he understood that Bucky had changed, and despite all Bucky had revealed with Freud's help, Bucky had a feeling it hadn't really sunk in, that Steve was still clinging to the memories, and letting them blind him to the reality. 

"When that day comes -- if it hasn't already -- maybe _you'll_ realise that it's _also_ true for _you_ \-- that he's not the man _you_ fell for _either_. And then you'll _both_ realise you've each _also_ fallen for whom you've _become_." 

She didn't give him time to reflect on that before pulling up a page on her laptop -- Twitter. "Now, let's see what the public reaction is to the press conference, shall we? Oooh, #bringbuckyhome, #bringbackbuckyandtheavengers -- we sound like a rock group! -- #forgivetheavengers, #pardonbucky #ohcaptainmycaptain, #bringtheheroeshome, #stuckyismyotp -- I would have gone with BuckRogers, myself, but I suppose there would have been issues with the fandom for the _actual_ Buck Rogers ...." 

Bucky put aside the warm little surge that ran through him at the sound of that name, to ask, "Stucky is my OTP?" 

"It's shorthand. Stucky is short for Steve and Bucky. OTP is One True Pairing. People are shipping you." 

"Shipping me where?" Bucky thought he spoke several languages, but apparently English was no longer one of them. 

"Shipping comes from the term 'shipper', which is short for 'relationshipper'. To ship a couple is to be a fan of their relationship. A One True Pairing is the ship a shipper is most dedicated to. Basically, it means there are people who are completely behind you and Steve being together." 

"Oh!" He didn't quite understand it, but if it meant people supported him and Steve, he wasn't going to look sideways at the phenomenon. 

"Mind you, not everyone is being supportive. #SinkStucky, #captainunamerican, #treasonousavengers, and #nopardonforthewintersoldier are all trending too." 

If looks could kill through the internet ... actually, from what he'd heard about the Black Widow, he wasn't entirely sure she couldn't do just that .... She read off some commentary, both positive and negative, then checked the trending on Facebook and did the same there. 

"Let me try something," she mumbled, and did a search for "Avengers petition". That brought up a petition appealing to the countries of the Sokovia Accords to end the Accords and pardon the "rogue" Avengers. It apparently had been around since Bucky was put in Wakandan cryo-sleep, but had had a sudden upsurge in signatures that day, thanks to the press conference, bringing its total to 155,329. She found another petition, "Pardon Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, PoW and War Hero", just started that day and yet already at 93,684 signatures. She made several attempts to find petitions calling for the incarceration (or execution) of Bucky and / or the Avengers, but thankfully found none. 

"So. In summary, you should be more worried that _Steve_ won't be allowed home than yourself. Even if they let you both home, it might be under the stipulation that you both sign the accords now, and I can't see him doing that." 

"What about you?" he wondered. 

She shrugged unhappily. "Since Steve hadn't signed in the first place, they might forgive him, but I signed and _broke_ them. And I already had my status as a former Russian spy against me. I can't be trusted." 

Bucky laid his hand over hers, squeezing. " _I_ trust you. Steve does. We won't let them accept us back without pardoning you, too. You let us go so we could stop a credible threat -- we had every reason to believe Zemo was going to use the other soldiers. And really, you were just letting an innocent man go. Surely people will understand that you did what you did for the right reasons!" 

She gave him a wan smile. "Some will. But I've made a lot of enemies, and you can be sure they'll do everything they can to make sure people focus on what I technically did wrong rather than what I did right." 

"And if that's the case, we won't go back either," Bucky reiterated. "Steve is right; home for me is wherever he is. If the US would vilify you for helping me, or vilify Steve for using the power our government _gave_ him in the first place to save lives, then ...well, I'm not so sure it's a country worth fighting for. Hell, considering the Japanese internment camps, I'm not sure it was worth fighting for back when I _was_ fighting for it. Wakanda seems more like a country worthy of respect." 

"Maybe that's the point -- Wakanda is already something of a utopia. It doesn't really _need_ superheroes beyond Black Panther. I think Steve would rather fight to make America what it _could_ be. And really, I would too, given thr cgsnce -- and I would rather you and Steve did, even if I can't. It was the US that gave me a second life after Red Room. It's not a perfect nation, but it's better than a fair few, and there are good people there who, with help, might make it as good as Wakanda someday. So let's not waste the work we already put into it by giving up now," she smiled. 

Bucky chuckled, shaking his head ruefully at the familiarity of her conviction. "It sounds like you and Steve have spent a lot of time together." The twinge of jealousy was barely noticeable. 

She nodded. "I don't have a lot of friends, but he's one of my best." 

"Thank you for looking out for him." 

Blushing and tucking a stray lock behind her ear, for a moment, she actually seemed her age -- younger, even -- rather than immensely older, as she usually seemed. (No wonder she and Steve got on so well ....) "It's been mutual, believe me," she shrugged. 

He laughed. "Of that, I have no doubt. Steve looks after everyone but himself." 

She nodded fervently. "At least it'll be easier looking after _him_ now, with _two_ of us!" 

He picked up his coffee cup and mimicked Peggy Carter. "Cheers to that!" 

Grinning, she tapped her cup against his, and they both took a swig, grimacing at the now-cold brew. "I want vodka," she complained. 

"Surely they have some around here somewhere ...." 

When Steve came into the bar an hour later, Natasha was starting to slur her words, but Bucky was, to Bucky's annoyance, still sober, thanks to his super-constitution. 

"I thought you went for a run?" Steve asked, looking amused by Drunk Widow. 

"We did run a little, then surfed the net to see how the press conference was received, and now we're trading horror stories about our time in Russia." 

"Oh ...." Steve seemed a little hurt. 

"I showed you a lot of it through Freud," Bucky hurriedly pointed out. "But it's just ... she went through some similar stuff, you know?" 

Steve's eyes softened. "I'm glad you each found someone you can commiserate with." 

"Right! Like, I'm relieved _you_ didn't go through it, but since as she and I _did_ , it makes sense to talk about it ...." 

"I get it," Steve assured him, slipping an arm around him. "I hate that you went through something I couldn't share, but we can't change that it happened, so I'm glad you and Tasha can help each other." 

Bucky nodded. "And in a weird way, I'm glad I was able to connect with one of your friends on my own. You have all this history with them that I missed out on -- it's weird to think of all those years you and I were apart ...." 

Steve slipped his other arm around him, encircling him. "Well, we'll just have to start making up for lost time, won't we?" 

"Sound like a plan," Bucky agreed with a grin, kissing his fianceé, ignoring Tasha's grumbling in Russian that they should get a room or she might toss her vodka. 

Tony came into the bar a moment later. "Hey, how come I wasn't invited to this party?" he pouted, but recovered quickly. "Never mind, just come on." And he turned on his heel, not bothering to check if anyone obeyed. 

Trading Steve a bemused grin, Bucky tugged his fianceé after the mad scientist. 

"I'll come when the floor stops moving," Natasha called out, still speaking in Russian. 

Chuckling, Bucky and Steve went back for her and carried her between them, her feet dangling. 

"Wheeee!" she giggled, starting to swing her feet. 

"Oh, I am _never_ letting her live this down," Steve declared, grinning evily. 

The look reminding him of little Stevie's more devilish moments, Bucky's stomach did a happy flip, seeing confirmation that a spark of the happy boy he'd once known had survived all they'd been through. 

"What took you so long?" Tony complained when they caught up with him. His eyes suddenly grew wide, and he whipped out his phone. Bucky heard the click of a camera shutter. 

"Blackmail material?" Steve asked, incredulous. 

"Wha..?" Natasha asked groggily. 

Even given her current state, Bucky didn't think blackmailing the Black Widow was very wise -- but then again, even smart as Tony was, his wisdom was often questionable .... 

" _GOD_ , no, I don't have a death wish!" Tony insisted as he examined his handiwork. "I just ... it's a nice reminder that she's human. Thought she might appreciate seeing it later." 

And that was probably at least partially true, but Bucky suspected this was simply about Tony wanting to remember a sweet moment with his friends; it was what Bucky would have done. Especially now that he knew just how rare and precious happy memories were .... 

Tony resumed his walk (actually, it was more of a bounce), leading them to the lab. Bucky, Tasha, and Steve couldn't walk three abreast into the room, so Bucky gently set Tasha down, and Steve steered her through, moving off to the side soon after. 

Bucky was about to step through, but stopped short when he saw what was inside. 

His metal arm sat gleaming on a table near the door. 

He was torn between entering and bolting. While he missed being able to balance and grip things ... this was a symbol of his oppression. 

"You don't like it?" Tony looked distressed. 

"No, I do ... it'll be nice to gave my balance back, and have two hands again," Bucky assured him. 

"But you don't seem too _thrilled_ ," Tony pressed, looking concerned. 

"Tony ...." Steve warned. 

"It's not the same one," Sam said from a nearby chair. (Bucky was slipping, not having spotted him -- or T'Challa, Wanda, Viz, Scott, and Clint -- immediately upon entering the room ....) Sam stood up and walked over to the arm. "It's not the one they forced on you. But even if it was, having that arm meant HYDRA kept you alive all those years, long enough that you and Cap can be together without having to hide how you feel about each other. Not saying be grateful to those who assaulted you, but at least there was a silver lining, ya know?" 

Bucky nodded. "A _literal_ one," he quipped, tracing the metal with new eyes. 

Steve's hand in his, he patiently sat through Tony attaching the prosthetic, which involved a few painful jolts as mental connections were restored. Ten minutes later, Tony told him to test it out. Raising his hand, he realised something was missing -- a ring of metal from his ring-finger. 

Just as he looked at Tony in confusion, Steve came to kneel before him, holding a small, box. "Thanks to Tony, I was able to have this made out of the same chunk of vibranium as my shield." He opened the box; nestled inside was the missing ring -- with a very small replica of Captain America's shield on it. "A promise that _I_ will always be _your_ shield." 

"The blue inlay is a glaze made of crushed sapphire; the red is ruby, and the white is diamond," Tony supplied. 

Hand shaking, Bucky reached out, touching the tiny shield. "It's beautiful. Thank you, Stevie!" Bucky whispered, voice too thick with emotion to speak any louder. It was finally sinking in: he and Steve were _getting married_. He glanced up at Tony. "And thank _you_. Not just for the ring, neither ...." If not for Freud, he might never have gotten free of Hydra -- and he and Steve might never have known the truth of their feelings for one another .... 

"De nada," Tony replied. Was there a hint of tears in his eyes? 

"Oh my god, you two -- _put it on already!_ " Natasha growled. 

"Yes, ma'am!" Bucky saluted while Steve, blushing furiously, fumbled the ring out of the box. Steve's hand shook as he held the ring out, and Bucky slid both hands over his lover's, smiling fondly at his punk. Looking up at him, Steve smiled back -- the most beautiful sight, and it belonged to Bucky. He wasn't sure why he deserved it, but he was determined to live a life worthy of it henceforth -- and, finally, he was starting to believe he _could_. 

"Oh, wait!" Tony interrupted, grabbing a tool off the table and holding it out to Steve. "Gotta remove the other finger-rings, first -- the ring is _part_ of his finger, so it can't just slide on and off over the others, ya know?" 

Steve paled. "Uh, maybe _you_ better do that," he told Tony. 

"Hey!" Bucky laid his flesh hand on his beloved's shoulder. "You got this." He held out his metal hand. 

"I'll walk ya through it," Tony assured Steve. 

A minute later, hands shaking, Steve was sliding the engagement-ring into place with a click. Bucky let out a little sob of joy, watching impatiently as the rest of the rings were subsequently restored. The moment his metal hand was whole again, he used it and his flesh hand to cradle Steve's face and kiss him, sliding metal fingers into Steve's hair. It took him a moment to realise something. 

"I ... I can _feel_!" He stared at hid metal digits, rubbing the thumb and forefinger together. "I mean, I had pressure-sensitivity before, but now it's like ... _real_ fingers!" 

"Micro-circuitry with a bio-electric field -- it was activated once all the rings were in place," Tony replied. "Consider it a wedding present. Oh, and there's one more feature. Turn the second ring on your pinkie." 

Bucky obeyed, and suddenly his arm looked like flesh. 

"Hard-light emitter. I figured the metal arm was better for fighting than one with 'skin', but this way you don't have to stick out if you don't wanna." 

Bucky grabbed Tony in a bear-hug. "Thank you," he whispered. 

Tony returned the hug before whispering in turn, "Please don't break my ribs." 

Bucky quickly let him go. "Sorry!" 

Steve took hold of the metal digits and kissed them. 

Bucky felt it. 

Bucky began to cry, pulling his beloved close, enjoying the feel of every stitch of fabric as he hugged the man (without fear of breaking any ribs this time). 

Their friends began to clap and whoop. 

Bucky enjoyed their support for all of five seconds before Steve whispered, "Let's go try the new arm out." 

Bucky started by dragging Steve back to their room, leaving wolf-whistles and shouts of encouragement in their wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter -- hopefully it won't take as long to get up. XD


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Bucky and Steve did until they could go home the US, and the morning of the wedding ....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, there ended up being so much material pre-ceremony, I decided to save the wedding ceremony itself and the reception for another chapter (which it may take me a while to finish, so at least you don't have to wait as long for new content if I let you have *this* now ....)

(*)]]]]]]]]]  
Bucky was, thankfully, forgiven by the US (and other countries where he'd committed crimes). It wasn't a pardon -- for that, he would have to be convicted first. Instead, the charges against him were dropped. Even that took a while, as Stark's lawyers poured over all his files and grilled him endlessly, to make sure every possible charge was brought up in the first place, so no enemy could try to bring a charge against him later. (And frankly, he still felt uneasy ....)

Unfortunately, while the US president and many citizens were on the side of the Avengers, it wasn't as simple of a matter to overturn the Sokovia Accords. Of course Bucy wasn't going to go back without Steve. Even if Steve were pardoned (which he wasn't, at first), in light of the situation, unregistered Inhumans and other super-powered beings started coming to Wakanda, seeking both asylum, and guidance in the use of their powers. Of course Steve wanted to help them!

Despite his resolve to be an Avenger, Bucky initially shied away from the job, not quite feeling safe fighting, worried that he might hurt innocents, despite all the evidence that he was fine. Newbies would ask him for advice, and he would gently suggest they ask pretty much _any_ other member of the team instead. Inthe first few weeks, every time he went to suit up, he froze -- and then was a nervous wreck waiting for Steven to come back. After a month or so, he started ging on missions (small ones), but stayed back from the actual fighting, acting as support: bringing ammo, even food and water, to fighters, and pulling the injured out of danger.

Otherwise, he talked to Freud pretty much daily, but even with Freud's wise perspective, knowing he was free, that he wasn't really a ruthless killing machine, and being able to _act_ on that knowledge proved to be two different things. He actually toyed with using Freud to _programme_ himself to be fine, something like when he used his Ghost to undo HYDRA's programming, but Freud wouldn't do it -- never mind that it would be Bucky himself doing the programming. Freud insisted that, if Bucky didn't actually work through his issues, the programming might fail mid-fight, and thus he could fall apart at the worst possible moment. (Bucky suspected it was more a matter of some sort of failsafe Tony installed, probably at Steve's insistance.)

And then one day Steve was in someone's line of fire, taking a bullet to the shoulder.

With a roar, Bucky incapacitated the enemy -- _only_ incapacitated -- and hurriedly carried his beloved to safety. Ultimately, Steve was fine, but that incident made Bucky realise two things: he _wasn't_ going to fly off the handle (if there was anything still ruthess about him, it was his efficiency), and he couldn't effectively watch Steve's back from the sidelines. (Yeah, okay, he could take up sniping again, but that meant killing rather than just incapacitating, and if Steve _did_ get hurt, he wouldn't be _*right there*_ to help him.) It was hard, and it toook a while to reach 100%, but he started becoming a more active member of the Avengers team, and even helped with training.

@ @ @  
When a group of well-armed humans tried to attack Wakanda, for harbouring super-beings who would not sign the Accords, the Avengers quickly and easily put an end to the assault -- with no casualties on either side, and minimal damage. The Avangers had learned from their mistakes, after all, becoming a more cohesive unit with more streamlined manoeuvres with each passing day of training and missions. It helped that Wanda's telepathy was improving, allowing her to pick up on projective thoughts of ill intent even at a sizable distance. (She didn't mind-rape people, not wanting to be tempted to abuse her abilities, but hey, if people shouted their thoughts, even without realising it, she couldn't help what she heard, right?) This allowed her to act as a sort of early warning system and pass on enemy strategies to her teammates.

A week later, the Avengers diffused a situation in a non-accord territory, again with minimal damage or casualties. Meanwhile, a situation in an accord territory saw combat with extensive damage _and_ casualties. After a few months of this sort of thing, with the Avengers helping where they could and things going very south in places they couldn't, analysts began to demonstrate that plain old humans fighting each other _without_ super intervention was a far more costly situation, in terms of repairs and lives _and_ military upkeep, than with.

And then there was another alien invasion. A new race, one with no previous Earthly, Asgardian, Chitauri, or Kree contact. They came, it was determined, because of radio signals they'd picked up from Earth -- _old_ signals, of ordinary humans, not ones talking of super-humans. The invaders were ill-prepared for the Avengers, the Inhumans, and the other super-beings, and surrendered. Captain America then brokered a peace that involved a mutually-beneficial trade agreement (it turned out that each group valued certain things that were considered pollutants by the other).

Of course, after all that, the world couldn't have its saviour living as a criminal in exile! But Cap wouldn't come back to America with the accords still in play, even when the US moved to exempt him and the unsigned Avengers (and Black Widow). The United Nations voted to rescind the accords. The Avengers and every other superhuman refugee were free to return home.

 _Home_ -home. Not just the US, not just New York, not even just Brooklyn, for Steve and Bucky. Home would again the brownstone where Bucky had grown up, where Steve had spent a few years himself pre-war, and which had been in the Barnes family for decades after the war. When Steve had come out of the ice, he had bought it from one of Bucky's nieces (she had held onto the place as her inheritance from Bucky's late sister Becca -- and as something of a memorial to the two heroes who had lived there -- but was actually living in Arizona), but Steve hadn't been able to bring himself to set foot in there without Bucky.

Of course, they didn't return to the brownstone _immediately_ \-- there was some fixing up of the place to be done, always people to save, and a wedding to plan. So home, for the first few months, was Stark Tower ....

(*)]]]]]]]]]  
"Becca?" Bucky whispered, staring in shock at the vid-screen, then shook his head at himself. There was no way she'd still look that young, and even if there was, the Internet said she'd passed away six years ago. He'd _just missed_ saying goodbye .... 

Well, thanks to walking in on Steve's conversation, now he could say hello to her descendents -- something he'd actually been avoiding, despite Steve's efforts to talk him into it. He was sure this walking in now was a set-up -- he'd forgotten how devious Stevie could be!

For this was obviously Rebecca's _granddaughter_ Steve was talking to. "You're ... _Katie_ , right?" Bucky asked as he approached the screen. The little girl and boy with her must be his great-great-niece and nephew ... _Amanda and ... Will_. He inwardly congratulated himself on remembering.

"Uh ... yeah. H-hello!" Katie waved back nervously.

He was betting she'd seen the press conference -- seen what horrible things he'd done, was capable of. How much did he terrify her? The possibility that she would fear him was exactly why he hadn't wanted to talk to her in the first place!

"Will, Amanda, say hello to your Great-Great Uncle Bucky!"

Will waved shyly, but Amanda blurted, "Is your arm made of metal?"

"Amanda!" Katie chided.

"No, it's okay," Bucky assured her. If they couldn't accept everything he was, this family thing wasn't going to work; he'd rather know now than drag things out. "Yeah, kiddo, this arm is metal." He banged on it for emphasis.

"Coooool!" the kids intoned in tandem. "How did you lose the real one?" Amanda ventured.

Bucky looked to Katie, unsure of whether he should answer -- or _how_ , for that matter.

"Your Uncle Bucky lost it in a war," Katie answered for him. "He lost part of the arm in a fall. Then some bad men captured him, took the rest of the arm off, put a different metal one on him, and put him in a freezer for a very long time. They used a machine to make him forget who he was, told him he was one of them, and made him do whatever they wanted."

Bucky was struck dumb.

"Like when the Evil Horde raised Princess Adora and lied about her family?" Amanda asked.

Bucky made a mental note to look up Princess Adora.

"Worse! Thankfully, Captain America there, his best friend, found him, and helped him escape and remember who he was!" She pointed to Steve, eyes still on her children. "What do you say to the nice man who brought your uncle back?"

"Thank you, Captain America!"

Okay, so maybe this family thing was going to work out after all.

Bucky spent the rest of that afternoon -- and many hours during the weeks after -- getting to know his family.

=*=  
A month later, Steve woke in a room in the Avengers Tower, in a two-part panic. 

The first part was over the absence of Bucky. It was quickly resolved: he'd simply forgotten that he and Bucky had decided to spend the night before their wedding in separate rooms, and thus wait to see one another again until the ceremony. Not out of any thoughts of propriety or superstition, but rather to build anticipation.

The second part was over something else that was missing: his ring.

The knock at the door was a welcome one, no matter who was on the other side. "I need your help!" he said frantically to the person behind the door, who turned out to be Tasha, grabbing her wrist and pulling her into the room, heedless of the coffee cups and patisserie bag she bore.

"With what? Making the bed?" she asked, giving the blanket-tossed surface a bemused look. "I thought Barnes slept in a different room last night!" she added with a teasing wink.

"I lost my ring!!" he informed her as he went back to tearing the bed apart.

"No, you didn't," she replied, smirking.

He abruptly stopped, staring. "Come again?"

"You remember how you wanted to add something to Bucky's ring, for the wedding? And you had me ask him for it last night, and take it to Tony?"

"Yeah ...." Steve felt like he should understand what she meant, but he was still discombobulated by the panic. He grabbed one of the coffees, hoping it might help.

"Well, turns out the pair of you think a lot alike, but you were already asleep when I got here, so I just _filched_ yours."

He plopped down on the bed, in relief (and was immediately grateful the cup had a lid).

She sat down beside him with considerably more grace, slinging an arm over his shoulder. "We gotcher back, ya know? _All_ of the Avengers do. Today is gonna be your happiest day yet -- so just relax and enjoy it, and leave everything to us."

He chuckled. "You know me better than that, Tash."

She sighed. "You mean how you're a worry-wort, or how you're a control freak?"

"Both," he told her, kissing her cheek and grinning.

"Ew!" she teased, shoving him.

He clutched his chest in mock-offence. "Just for that, you're not Best Man!"

She squeaked in delight. "I'm Best Man?"

"Well, don't get _too_ excited -- _all_ the Avengers are," he admitted.

" _What??_ " The squeak was indignant this time.

They'd skipped the "Best Man" part in the loose rehearsal the day before, Steve and Bucky each saying they needed to sleep on it more, but in a private moment just before they went their separate ways for bed, they'd decided not to single anyone out.

"Come on, Tash -- you're _all_ family to us. And after that situation at the airport ... well, we want to make sure everyone knows how important they are to us, no matter what side they were on that day. That we want to move forward with _all_ of you. Besides, while Bucky's gotten closer to everyone, I don't know if he'd feel up to choosing his _own_ best man ...."

It wasn't a lie, exactly, but he figured she would take that better than being told Steve couldn't choose between her and Sam. Truth be told, he was pretty sure Bucky would have chosen Tony, as thanks for all Tony had done, but Tony would have insisted on giving Bucky a bachelor party, which sounded like a disaster waiting to happen ....

"Fine, fine, I get it," Tasha pouted. "But I call dibs on the first dance! After Bucky, of course. So, who's going to give you the rings?"

"Oh, crap, I didn't think about that!" Since he'd only got the idea to make an addition to Bucky's ring last night (and vice versa), originally they weren't going to _do_ a ring exchange ....  
__  
Then, he had it, snapping his fingers. "Tony's robots."

"Ha-ha."

"No, seriously! Then there's no favouritism!"

She let out a growl. "So _none_ of us are going to get to _participate?_ "

"Well, you'll still all be standing up with us, like we worked out during rehearsal yesterday. You'll all be witnesses. And really, that's the most important thing, especially for Bucky: knowing that we have friends who support us, that there are people who have our backs, so we can take a moment to focus on each other. And let's face it: the wedding of two same-sex superheroes could attract some negative attention," he sighed.

She laid her hand on his shoulder. "All right, then, that's how we'll be involved: we'll be your _bodyguards_. Not just today, either. Anyone wants a piece of you or Bucky will have to face the rest of the Avengers first."

He laid a hand on hers, smiling. "And we'll have _your_ backs in turn."

She smiled back, for a moment, then, "Okay, enough mushy stuff. I gotta check on the prep and your soon-to-be husband. Eat, shower, and dress, in that order -- unless you wanna eat in the shower?" she added, pulling a breakfast croissant out of the bag and handing it over. "Great way to save time!"

"Yeah, uh, _noooot_ a fan of soggy pastry," he confided as he eyed the sandwich, only to realise a moment later that she'd already left.

(*)]]]]]]]]]  
Bucky was fiddling with his left pinkie, turning the skin hologram on and off, when there was a knock at his door later that morning. 

"Hey, man, you almost ready?" Tony greeted with a grin that suggested he was as ecstatic about the pending nuptials as Bucky -- if not more so!

Bucky turned to the mirror, studying his reflection for the hundredth time: black tux with satin lapels, maroon vest and tie, red-rimmed white rose in the buttonhole of his breast pocket. "Yeah, I just .... I can't decide if I should use the hologram or not." He turned it on. "It looks a little weird with the finger missing." With the rings temporarily gone, there was nothing to manifest the hologram there, so it was all metallic bones and wires.

"Well, while I'm proud of that hologram, I doubt Cap cares either way -- and _given_ that fact, I'd probably go _without_ the hologram. Ya know what I mean?"

Bucky turned the hologram off, nodding. "Yeah, I do. Steve knows all I've been through, and still loves me. I should honour that by _owning_ my past today. Thanks, Tony. Hey, is the ring ready?"

" _Both_ are," Tony assured him. "Steve told me to give them to--" and it sounded like Tony said "you and dummy."

And Bucky was shocked, even angered, at how Tony referred to Steve. He struggled to keep his anger in check as he replied, "Hey! Don't call my fiancée that!"

"Huh?"

"Don't call Steve a 'dummy'!"

Tony looked perplexed, then alarmed. "No! No, no, no, I don't mean you and Steve! I have _robots_ named 'U', like the letter 'u', and 'D-U-M-hyphen-E' -- 'DUM-E'."

"Oh! ... Why'd you name them that?"

Tony blinked, then played with his beard a moment. "To be honest ... I guess because I'm ... well, kind of an abusive jerk!" he replied with a small laugh and a shake of his head.

"I don't think so!" Bucky protested. "You forgave me for ... _you know_ .... And even the kindest people would probably struggle with that! "

At Tony's stricken look, Bucky wished he hadn't said anything, but he hated seeing a friend down on himself!

Tony stepped forward and adjusted Bucky's tie. "Ya know, I love how you always forget that I tried to kill you. Buckster, there was _nothing to forgive_ , end of story. Now let's get moving."

He started to leave, but Bucky grabbed him by the elbow. " _And_ you gave me my _life_ back -- my memories, my arm, my _freedom_. So you're _not_ an abusive jerk; you're my friend, and I don't let people badmouth my friends. End of story."

Tony gave him a rueful smile. He opened his mouth to say something, but there was a knock at the door. Tony opened it.

"Pepper!" Tony greeted. "How'd you know I was here?"

"I didn't -- I'm here for Bucky!" But she kissed Tony quickly before pushing past him.

She wasn't alone.

"Bucky!" Katie greeted. "I hope you don't mind us stopping by! We just wanted to finally meet you face-to-face -- _before_ the ceremony, instead of after!"

"No, no, I'm glad you did!" he replied, hugging her when she offered her hand. He was both excited and nervous to see her in person finally! He was gratified when she didn't stiffen or pull away, instead returning the hug enthusiastically.

And Bucky was proud of how he managed to keep from slipping into fight mode, or even jumping in startlement when he felt a tug on his slacks. He was finally starting to believe Steve and their friends that he was doing well ....

"Can I see your arm?" Amanda asked when he looked down.

"Amanda!" Katie chided.

"It's fine," Bucky assured her, chuckling as he removed his tux. After he rolled up his sleeve, the kids wasted no time pawing and cooing over the metal limb. Suddenly he wasn't the slightest bit conflicted about leaving the hologram off. He almost cried tears of joy when the kids, of their own volition, hugged him, after trying to get their mother to let them stay with him until the ceremony.

During the ceremony, he _did_ cry.

At least he wasn't alone. Steve's tears didn't surprise him, but Tasha's did ....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, I'll rewind things a little bit for the final chapter, so you won't miss anything! XD
> 
> Yes, I've already done a very similar U / DUM-E joke in my other Stucky fic series, but I just couldn't resist. XD
> 
> Princess Adora ©/TM Filmation / Mattel


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First the ceremony, then the reception ....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken so long to get this done -- and that it's not actually the end after all!

(*)]]]]]]]]]  
The ceremony was held outside, on the rooftop of the Avengers Tower. The Avengers themselves were standing in a circle, on a temporary dais of wide steps. Tony and Pepper stood on the top step, in the center, flanked by U and DUM-E. Going clockwise from Pepper, a step down, was Natasha, then Sam on the next step, then Rhodey, then Vision. Going counter-clockwise down from Tony was T'Challa, then Clint, then Scott, then Wanda. 

At the bottom were two new faces amongst the Avengers, ones Bucky had never actually met but knew on sight: Dr Bruce Banner and Thor of Asgard. Bucky was glad for his beloved, that his other friends had made it -- Banner had been granted a reprieve with the rest of the outlawed Avengers, but no one had been able to _find_ the man, nor had anyone known how to reach Thor. Now, with them present, everything was as close to perfect as could be. 

Bucky and Steve came around from opposite sides of the dais, seeing one another for the first time that day. Bucky's heart seemed ready to fly away when he laid eyes on his beloved, stunning in a shimmering, admiral-blue tux with a metallic, dark-red vest and bowtie. 

Taking Steve's hand in his right, then climbing the steps, he tried not to think about how much he wished their parents and his siblings were there to share this day with them (never mind that such a day couldn't have happened back then anyway). It helped to have their current family -- the Avengers, and his nieces and nephew -- there, sure, but they were _additions_ , not substitutions. He was grateful for all of them -- for Steve most of all -- and clung to that, trying not to let old grief rob him of current joy. None of the people they'd lost would want that, and if their souls were hanging about, he wouldn't want to disappoint them! 

Of course, what he and Steve were about to say would probably disappoint some people anyway .... 

"You're probably expecting us to exchange vows -- maybe the traditional ones, or maybe even ones we wrote ourselves," Steve said as they faced the crowd, switching which hands were clasped. 

"But when Steve and I talked about it," Bucky picked up, "we realised that we'd already said our vows a million times over, even if it wasn't usually out loud. Hell, we've already been soulmates for _decades_ , even if we didn't realise until recently that we both felt the same way. And what is a wedding, but just an official acknowledgement of the love between two people, witnessed by their nearest and dearest?" 

"So we decided instead to share with you our memories of each other, and so celebrate the bond we've _always_ had," Steve continued. "Of course, much of this you may have seen already via the press conference. Feel free to nap or something, if that's the case," he finished with a chuckle. 

They turned to Tony, at the top right of the circle; their friend held out two pairs of Freud-glasses. As they slipped them on and faced each other, each of them suddenly bore a blazing-white aura with pink stripes, alternating with one that was magenta streaked with orange. Bucky blinked in surprise, wondering if these auras were specific to the glasses, or if _everyone_ could see them. 

"A new feature," Tony explained, loud enough for the rest of the audience as well, confirming the latter possibility. "You'll have to guess, though, as to whether their present-day auras represent how _they're_ feeling, or how their _partner_ feels about _them_ ," he added with a wink. 

"Like it matters, where they're concerned," Clint called out teasing. 

Bucky felt his cheeks warm, and saw Steve's own turn a fetching shade of pink in that moment. God, the man was pretty! Bucky's heart swelled with affection, and the pink stripes in Steve's aura momentarily widened with the sensation. 

"Oh my fucking gawd, it's like you two are looking in a mirror," Natasha mock-growled. It took Bucky a moment to realise she meant their auras had both changed in the same way. "Did you _practice_ making synchronised auras??" 

Bucky and Steve both chuckled at that, Steve's aura turning yellow with mirth as they did; Bucky assumed his own aura did likewise. 

"Ready?" Steve then asked Bucky, gesturing to a wide space at the foot of the dais. 

Bucky took a deep breath and nodded. They faced the crowd together. Four-year-old Steve and five-year-old Bucky appeared in the empty space, sitting at their desks in school, drawing -- their adult counterparts having already discussed which memories they were going to show. 

"The auras you see above our memory-selves represent how we ourselves felt at any given moment," Steve explained, taking the lead with the presentation. 

As the memories played, Freud interpreted the auras and Steve explained the scenes, with Bucky elaborating when necessary. They showed the day they'd became friends, the times they'd faced bullies, the times Bucky had fretted over Stevie in the hospital, even the conversations they'd had with others that explained how they felt. 

But there were joyous memories, too, like playing knights on a quest in the woods of Central park, or rainy days spent drawing indoors, or going to the zoo, to the beach, to Coney Island, even just to the movies. Time surprising one another with things they made, tokens of affection that were also means of seeking approval, which was always given. Days of contentment and joy in each other's company (save for the constant, underlying worry for Steve's health). 

When they got to the day of the funeral of Sarah Rogers, Bucky turned to Steve, squeezing his hand and caressing his cheek, promising in tandem with his past self, "I'm with you, till the end of the line." 

Modern Steve's reaction to modern Bucky -- happy tears and a shining smile -- were worth every step through hell Bucky had ever taken -- or ever would. 

The memories rolled on, through the war, through the fall from the train. Steve wept a different sort of tears then, and Bucky squeezed his hand again, whispering, "If that hadn't happened then, we wouldn't be here together now." 

Steve smiled softly, nodding. 

The memories continued still, through Bucky's hearing of Stevie's death while in his cell. Bucky remembered the pain, tears of his own now brimming, until Steve's own firm squeeze pulled Bucky back to their happy present-day. The memories jumped to more recently, first with their encounter on the roof; then to them meeting and battling on the street; then to Pierce hitting Bucky for saying he remembered "the man on the bridge", and ordering his mind wiped; then to the helicarrier battle; and then finally to the fateful moment when Steve had sworn the oath himself, jogging Bucky's memory. The current Steve turned to the current Bucky, speaking in tandem with the past Steve. 

Still, the memories continued: Bucky diving after Steve in the Potomac; Steve finding him in Romania; Steve pulling him out of a river; Bucky revealing his memories of Steve; them in Siberia, sharing the memories of their youth in New York; even (at Tony's insistence) how effortlessly synchronised they were when fighting Iron Man. Then, their separation as Bucky went into cryo-sleep; their reunion; and the moments during that therapy session, when Steve learned Bucky loved him, and vice versa. It ended with their first kiss, which their real selves mirrored, to thunderous applause. 

"Hey, now, you skipped a part!" Tony teased. 

Bucky looked to him, and spotted U and DUM-E waving their claws, shining metal objects their grasps. Chuckling, he and Steve went to meet them, each man holding out a hand, palm-up, into which their respective robot gently laid a ring; in Steve's case, besides a ring, there was also the rest of Bucky's (currently missing) metal finger-casing, and the tool for re-assembling it. 

Bucky studied the object in his own hand; this was the first he'd seen of Steve's ring since before he'd asked Natasha to filch it, just after she'd asked for his own. He looked Steve's ring over now, checking the work he'd asked Tony to do on it: a red star, like the one on his shoulder, was added (much like the shield Steve had added to Bucky's ring), and his vow, "TILL THE END OF THE LINE", was engraved into the band. 

Bucky wondered if Steve even noticed the tremor in Bucky's hand, how he almost dropped the ring before sliding it on Steve's finger. "With this ring, I thee wed," Bucky intoned, barely managing a whisper, he was so choked up. Happy tears gave everything a heavenly glow. 

As Steve examined the ring, the man gasped, looking at Bucky with ... surprise? Awe? And then a smile that was blinding, eyes shining. 

It seemed to Bucky that Steve's hands shook too -- he didn't envy the man the extra steps it took to get the ring on him. His heart melted when Steve kissed the ring before saying his line. 

"Well, would ya look at that -- he completed me!" Bucky quipped to the crowd, waggling his re-attached finger to the crowd, a chuckling rippling through the gathering. He realised then that there was an engraving on his own ring. 

The same engraving. 

Bucky didn't wait for the prompt to kiss his husband. 

"And I see we're skipping ahead again," Tony complained. "By the power invested in me by the website that made me an ordained minister, I now pronounce you life-partners," Tony proclaimed. 

"As do I, for Wakanda," T'Challa added as Bucky and Steve came up for air. 

Bucky and Steve nodded their thanks at this unspoken assurance that they could find amnesty again in Wakanda, if ever they had need. 

Then the Avengers closed in for hugs (Tasha somehow terrifying as she blubbered congratulations). Once upon a time, Bucky would have been struggling with the urge to run, but now? He felt comfortable with these people. After all, he had lived with and fought alongside for months, much he'd done with the Howling Commandos. Well, except for Banner and Thor -- a fact that the two men seemed to understand, keeping a respectful distance as they were introduced, even as their smiles and handshakes were warm. Bucky was certain they, too, would come to be like family to him, and he looked forward to it. 

After they all stepped down, the dais folded itself away into the ground with surprising swiftness. Everyone moved into the common area of the penthouse, to graze on snacks, while caterers worked to set up tables and such outside, for dinner later. Besides snacks, there were video games (Bucky and Clint tied at Resident Evil, but Will and Amanda wiped the floor with the adults on Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario Kart), board games (Tony cleaned up at Monopoly, but Steve was ruthless at Risk), cards (no one could beat Natasha), trivia (Vision was moderator, and there was a solid mix of pre-40s and post-40s questions), darts (another tie between Bucky and Clint, whom everyone started calling the Bullseye Boys), and karaoke (who knew Steve knew all the words to "Part of Your World" -- or that Thor knew "Copacabana"??) to kill the time. 

Dinner began just before sunset, the blue fading into pinks and oranges, reminding a contented Bucky of Freud's auras -- only now over everyone at once. He loved the idea of everyone being as in love as he was. In fact, he'd come to feel that any innocent targets of the Winter Soldier would be glad for him, another victim -- that they would see his new life, full of joy, as a victory over Hydra, not resent it. He thought of their names now, as he often did, in a sort of mantra, hoping that, wherever they were, they could feel his happiness as if it were their own .... 

As he ate, his eyes wandered over the sea of faces, thinking how rich they were in friends. The tables were arranged something like a medieval banquet: instead of scattered round tables, there were rectangular ones, arranged in three levels, bordering a decagon-shaped dance floor, with everyone sitting facing the floor. (It reminded Bucky a little of Medieval Times; he half wondered if there would be jousting, or at least some melee-style fighting, and wasn't even sure if he was disappointed or relieved that there wasn't). Two of the 10 sides of the dance floor were taken up by a stage with a big, 40s-style band. 

Dinner done, it was time for the first dance, to Glen Miller's "Moonlight Seranade". It was a favourite of Bucky and Steve both, a song Bucky had taught Steve to slow-dance to. 

"I didn't think I'd ever remember what it felt like to be this happy," Bucky remarked as they danced, foreheads touching. "Thank you for proving me wrong." 

"Same here, on both counts," Steve replied. "Thank _you_ for making your way back! I know it wasn't easy ...." 

"It was _worth_ it, though. And it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't had the patience of a saint." 

" _You_ were -- _are_ worth it,"Steve assured him with an adorably dopey smile. 

_How is this my life?_ Bucky wondered, kissing Steve before the conversation devolved into a round of "'You're the best!' / 'No, _you're_ the best!'" 

After, he laid his head on Steve's shoulder with a happy sigh. He would _not_ question if he deserved this. He would _not_ wait for the other shoe to drop. He _would_ believe in this perfect moment, surrounded by stars, and by friends that seemed almost as numerous. 

Case in point, as the song waned and he opened his eyes, he found one of those friends waiting impatiently. 

"Hand him over, Barnes!" Tasha demanded teasingly in Russian. "He promised me the second dance!" 

"I better get him back with his toes in working order!" he teased in return. 

She snorted as she put her arms around Steve. "Puh-lease. Which of us is the ballerina?" 

"Hey, I think I still got that Baryshnikov upgrade up here somewhere!" He tapped his temple and winked. 

She stuck her tongue out at him as Steve led her away, Steve clearly fearing an impromptu dance-off. 

Buck spotted Katie and asked her to dance, trying not to think of how much she reminded him of his late sister, or how he wished he could have danced with Becca at _her_ wedding. Next, he danced with Amanda, who reminded him of Becca as a child. He also spent a little time with Will, teaching him a few dance moves, before Thor and Vision having a contest with Mjolnir drew the children's attention away. 

"Have you filled your dance card yet?" Pepper asked, coming up beside him. 

Bucky grinned. "I think I got a space or two left," he replied, taking her hand and spinning her. "So, how are things...?" He knew she and Tony had been on the outs just before the airport battle, but also that Tony was trying to fix things. Still, how well could things be fixed when Tony had recently spent months as an Avenger with them in Wakanda? 

Apparently _very_ well, given the blush that was rivaling Pepper's hair in redness. 

"Things are good," she assured him. " _Better_ than good. I used to worry that he would be hurt, that _I_ would be hurt, that his lifestyle just wasn't _safe_ , but ...." 

"But?" 

"Well, I guess I have you and Steve to thank. When I saw your memories at the press conference, I realised ... I love him, whether I'm with him or not. And I realised that the things I thought were flaws were part of a larger whole. It was selfish to make him choose, as if he could just remove parts of himself. I've got to take the ... _maddening_ with the good. He's saving lives, and heroes need support -- how can I _not_ support the man I love for being heroic? How dare I ask him to not do good, for _my_ sake? And I understand now than him giving up the world for me wouldn't actually prove he loves me -- quite the opposite, really." 

Bucky chuckled; he knew something of what all that was like. He'd let the world burn to save Steve, except Steve would then try to save the world .... 

"Besides," she continued, "all those people in New York, or Sokovia ... they didn't personally know any superheroes, but their lives were still in danger. Staying away from the man I love isn't going to keep me safe. I could slip and break my head open in the tub any time, right? And if I'd slipped last year, I would have been _full_ of regrets. But I wouldn't regret it _now_ , because I know Tony knows I love him, and I know he loves me -- we make sure of it every day. We're making the most of whatever time we have -- and doing all we can _together_ to leave this world better than we found it." 

Bucky smiled at how impassioned she'd gotten. "I think you'd give Steve a run for his money in the speech department." 

"I've had some practice with Tony," she winked. 

"Yeah, I taught her everything she knows," Tony agreed as he approached. 

"About speech-making?" Bucky asked, confused. 

"No, dancing!" Tony pouted at Pepper. 

"That's true," she confirmed, kissing him. 

"Did you want to cut in?" Bucky asked Tony when they came up for air. 

"Sure!" And Tony took Bucky by the hand with an evil grin, whisking him away. 

Tony really _was_ a great dancer. 

Still, Bucky was relieved when Pepper cut in to repossess her madman. Bucky finished the song out with Wanda, convincing her to ask Vision for the next dance; he was rooting for the pair. 

Natasha claimed Bucky next, and together they wowed the crowd with some swing dancing (which Bucky had to admit he'd missed doing; it was the one thing a female partner was better for than his now-burly husband). Bucky needed a break after that, famished between the exertion and his accelerated metabolism. 

Steve, as always, was a life-saver, approaching with a glass of icewater and asking, "Cake-time?" 

Clint waited for them at the cake table, holding out plastic bibs with lobsters on them. Bucky felt a little silly wearing it, but it was better than getting food all over his clothes .... It was almost a shame to cut into the cake, a fondant wonder with "The Wedding of the Century, Starring Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes" written on a movie marquee for the bottom tier, filmstrips with photos of them for the next three tiers, and Cap's shield for the top layer, with two grooms perched on it. Well, they'd had the wedding photographer take plenty of pictures, and the "black forest cake" interior was worth the devastation. 

"Time for presents!" Tony announced as Bucky scraped the last bit of chocolate from Steve's plate fifteen minutes (and three slices) later. 

"Uh, Tony, honey, people don't usually open gifts at their wedding," Pepper pointed out. 

"Where's the fun in that??" Tony whined. "Well, whatever, they can open mine -- they'll need it to!" With that, he grabbed a large box from the table. 

Steve and Pepper both seemed alarmed. 

"Anthony Stark, if that gift is X-rated ...." Pepper warned. 

"I think you mean NC-17, dear, and that's entirely up to the boys," Tony sniffed, then shoved to box at Bucky, who could speak multiple languages but had no idea what Tony and Pepper had been talking about .... 

With a look of trepidation one usually reserved for explosive devices, and a hesitancy to match, Steve lifted the lid, revealing a familiar briefcase. 

"Freud!" Bucky grinned. 

"When you go to bed, put the glasses on," Tony directed with an uncharacteristic, unsarcastic gentleness. 

Seeing the sudden softness in Pepper's eyes, Bucky had the feeling they were getting a rare glimpse of the _real_ Tony Stark, the vulnerable heart the man kept guarded by a repellant armour made of flippancy and arrogance. 

"We will," Bucky promised. "Thank you!" 

"De nada," Tony said, armour firmly back in place. "I have something else for you, Steve, and it's not gonna keep either. Come with me." 

The look of trepidation was back on Steve's face. Pepper, at least, was smirking, apparently in on this gift. Bucky smothered a chuckle, taking his husband's hand and dragging him along to follow their friends ....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently I'm not done yet. Please bear with me, and I'll try not to take so long with finishing the ACTUAL last chapter, which I've at least started ....


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding draws to a close -- time to open the gifts!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honour of Steve Rogers' birthday, July 4th, I've finally finished this fic / series! Hope it's worth the wait ....

(*)]]]]]]]]]  
They stopped to grab Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Thor, Sam, and Maria Hill from the dance floor; Bucky wondered why Wanda, Vision, T'Challa, Rhodey, and Scott were left out. Then it occurred to him that they'd collected just the "original" Avengers (plus two), and Tony had specifically said that the present was for Steve, not him and Bucky, so the gift had to be something specific to those people. Bucky told himself not to be jealous of the history Bucky didn't share, to be glad the Avengers had been there for Steve when he wasn't able to. It helped that not every Avenger was in on this, but Bucky was allowed to be .... 

Tony brought them to his workshop, where U and DUM-E guarded the door; the robots started waving their arms as the little party approached. 

"Okay, you can stop now," Tony ordered, exasperated. 

The arms fell, making the automatons look something like sulking dogs; Bucky patted each of them as he passed, and they seemed to perk up. 

The room was dimly lit, and Bucky could just make out a figure in the center. 

"Lights," Tony commanded. 

"Fury!" Steve cried, trepidation apparently traded for delight as he hurried forward to shake the man's hand. "Bucky, this is Nick Fury; Nick, Bucky Barnes." 

"Mazel tov," Fury greeted Bucky with a firm shake, then took a moment to exchange hellos with the rest of the party. Apparently he'd gone to ground, so it had been a long time since anyone had heard from him. After the man was debriefed, he announced, "I come bearing a gift," gesturing to a counter behind him. 

Another man leapt up from behind it, saying, "Surprise!" 

Bucky managed to keep his literally killer reflexes in check. 

"Coulson?" Steve breathed, the room silent for the next several beats. 

Bucky glanced about, trying to determine if he should be ready for combat. Everyone was shocked (even Tony and Pepper, but excluding Sam, who looked just as lost as Bucky felt), but Bucky couldn't tell if it was a _good_ shock or not. 

" _SON OF COUL!!!_ " Thor then bellowed, sweeping the newcomer up and swinging him around as if the man were a child (he was almost small enough, in comparison to the blond ...). 

The other Avengers gathered, joyously embracing Coulson, one after another. 

"Bucky, com'ere!" Steve waved him over, smiling wide. 

Bucky was torn between being taken by the beauty of his husband, and being heartbreakroken that someone _else_ could make Steve smile so. Hell, had Bucky _ever_ made Steve smile like that? Just now, he couldn't recall it -- he was half-tempted to crack open Freud and ask. 

_Stop it! Steve loves_ you _. You should be_ happy _that he can smile like that, no matter the source!_ Bucky did his best to mirror his beloved, reckoning that even if his smile was just a quarter as bright, it would hide the darkness in his thoughts .... 

"Buck, this is Phil Coulson," Steve introduced. "Coulson, this is--" 

"Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, aka Bucky!" Coulson breathed, taking Bucky's hand and shaking it vigorously. If not for the serum in Bucky's veins, it might even have hurt! "I'm a _big_ fan!" 

"He is," Fury confirmed. "He even had your trading card!" 

"Trading card ...?" _There was a trading card of me. Of **me**!_ As a kid, Bucky had dreamed of such a thing, but like ... for being a _baseball_ player .... 

"Yup! Unfortunately, my cards all went missing." Coulson looked truly aggrieved. 

"No they didn't! Fury used the cards to convince us you were _dead_ ," Steve told Coulson, crossing his arms and aiming a scowl at Fury. 

"Well, to be fair, I _was_ dead," Coulson conceded. "But I hadn't had the cards on me at the time!" He aimed a glare of his own at Fury. 

_If looks could kill, this Coulson guy would be a better assassin than even me ...._

"Hey, the Avengers needed a push, and it worked," Fury replied, waving a dismissive hand. "They saved the world in your honour. Don't tell me that's not better than a piece of cardstock!" 

"'Twas a noble sacrifice," Thor weighed in. 

"It shouldn't have been _needed_ , though. We should have gotten the job done without needing a boost. I'm sorry, Phil," Steve apologised with a hand on the man's shoulder. 

Bucky got an idea. "How's about taking a selfie with us? A pic of you, Sergeant Barnes, and Captain America, on Bucky and Cap's wedding day!" 

"Could we??" Coulson asked excitedly, digging out his phone. "May's gonna be _so_ jealous! Of course, she'll _pretend_ she doesn't care, but _inside_ , she'll be squeeing." 

The man was so childlike, despite being physically older, Bucky felt the last vapours of his jealousy fade, replaced by fondness. How could he resent someone who admired Steve almost as much as Bucky did? Steve deserved all the respect in the world! _And all the love. Hell, the way Stevie himself loves, I shouldn't want him to hold any affection back -- the universe needs more of that light. Don't be selfish, Buck ...._

Fury and Coulson soon took their leave, and the rest of the group went back out to the roof, Steve and Bucky needing to say goodnight to the guests. Will and Amanda, falling asleep, nevertheless protested the newlyweds' looming departure; Bucky promised the kids that he and Steve would take them to the zoo soon, and that mollified them. 

The newlyweds eventually found Wanda and Vision slow-dancing, a sight which warmed Bucky's heart. Wanda was a sweet girl who had lost much and deserved some happiness. And if Vision, an actual machine, could be seen as human (as Bucky did indeed see him), then it was easier for Bucky, who had basically been turned into a machine, to believe in his own restored humanity (something he still struggled with now and then). 

Steve and Bucky decided to slow dance themselves until that song was over, and then all the Avengers escorted them to the car park. 

There, they ran into Sharon Carter. Bucky stifled another surge of jealousy, offering the smile she deserved after all her help. He reminded himself that Steve had chosen _him_ , not her (then felt petty for thinking it). 

"I'm sorry I'm so late -- I was on assignment, and literally _just_ got back!" 

"I'm glad you were able to make it," Steve replied with a (somewhat ginger, Bucky thought) hug. (Bucky firmly ignored a budding sense of satisfaction.) 

Bucky was surprised when she turned and hugged _him_ , too. 

"So, uh ..." Bucky struggled to make polite small talk. "You doin' okay? You aren't hurt or anything?" he asked. 

She shrugged. "Little bruised. You should see the other gal! Anyway, I have something for you!" She handed Steve a gift bag. 

Steve held the bag open, and Bucky reached in, pulling out a framed picture -- of Steve and Bucky, in uniform, at their favourite pub, with the Howling Commandos, and Howard and Peggy. 

"I found it when I was going through Aunt Peggy's things, and I thought she'd want you guys to have it." 

Steve's hug for Sharon wasn't at all ginger this time -- and neither was Bucky's. 

A limo drove up then, "Just Married" written on the windows, and cans tied to red, white, and blue ribbons trailing from the bumper. Tony's bodyguard / driver, Happy Hogan, got out and opened the door for them. 

"Don't forget Freud!" Tony reminded them, holding out the briefcase; the rest of the Avengers had begun packing other gifts into the trunk. Perhaps sensing that Steve was sad to leave (Steve never said it, but Bucky could tell he was, and to be honest, Bucky was a little sad to leave the tower himself), Tony added, "I know you got your own place and all, but ... you guys always have a room here, to, ya know?" 

Suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed, Bucky found himself giving the man a bear-hug, and was gratified to feel the man, who was notorious for maintaining a physical distance from the world, return it. Each Avenger in turn offered hugs (Thor's actually bordered on painful), congratulations, and "good night"s. Getting into the car, Bucky almost suggested they stay at the tower after all, but then Happy closed the door after them, and Bucky reminded himself that it wasn't like they'd never see their friends -- their family -- again. 

As the drew close to their destination, he realised another part of why he hadn't wanted to leave: there was a lingering sense that he was tainted, that the man he'd become was a stranger who didn't belong in the Barnes family home. But to be fair, he probably would have felt that way even if he'd never been captured and brainwashed; Sam had explained, when he'd confided his trepidation, that such was a common feeling amongst soldiers. War changed a person irrevocably. What a soldier had to remember was that it changed those who had been left behind too -- but those people still wanted to see their loved ones again! 

If only Bucky's loved ones were actually still there to see him .... 

When they arrived, Steve's motorcycle was waiting for them. Bucky squashed a notion of them driving all night, him with his arms wrapped around his Stevie. They had the rest of their lives to do that, and they still would have to go into the house sooner or later. As Happy insisted on carrying the gifts into the house, Bucky tried to focus on thoughts of holding Steve a _different_ way tonight .... 

As he went to cross the threshold, though, he wasn't thinking of much of _anything_ , his heart pounding, one hand tight around Freud,and the other tight around Stevie's fingers. 

He was home. 

He didn't know how Steve had done it, but the kitchen looked pretty much identical to when he'd left -- it even smelled the same, of baking cookies, and apples, and that lemon-scented cleaner his mother used. Hand trembling, he laid Freud down on the table, then sank into a chair at the kitchen table. He was still gripping Steve's hand, as if he were going to fall from the train again. He let out a sob before covering his mouth, which did nothing to keep the tears from falling. 

Steve slid his arms around him, fingers carding his hair. "I know, baby, I know. I miss them too. You don't need to hide your feelings from me." Bucky felt a drop in his hair, and knew Steve cried too. They shared their decades-delayed grief, for what felt like another 70 years -- who knew those who "died" could end up grieving those who'd lived on? 

"Okay, I don't think our mothers would want us to spend our wedding night crying," Bucky finally said, chuckling to himself ruefully as he wiped his eyes. "I can think of happier ways to spend it." And with that, he stood up, grabbed Freud, took his blushing husband by the hand, and led his Stevie up the stairs (which creaked just as much as he remembered). 

He didn't even ask which room, going straight for his, the one they'd always shared as kids. This room was changed, of course, the biggest change being the full-sized bed, with the right side flush with the wall, that took up most of the space (it had been a twin before). He'd never realised how tiny the room was -- he felt like a giant, now! 

"Uh, Buck, I kinda figured we'd use the _master_ bedroom," Steve pointed out as Bucky placed Freud on the nightstand, opening it for ease of access later (reckoning they'd be too tired to fuss with latches when the time came). 

His parents' room -- Bucky wasn't ready for that. "Tomorrow." _Maybe._ "Tonight, I want you _here_ \-- we _should_ have been together in this room a long time ago!" Bucky insisted, pulling Steve down into a searing kiss. 

And then it really was like they _were_ the teenaged lovers they'd only ever been in virtually reality, awkward and frantic and lusty. As the night wore on, they matured, growing languid and sensual. When they finally lay spent, Bucky reached out and felt around in the case, finding the glasses and handing a pair to Steve. "Shall we see what Tony's been up to?" 

"I'm almost afraid, to," Steve admitted, "but ... yeah, okay." He put the glasses on and settled against Bucky. 

Bucky was half-tempted to get frisky one last time before sleep, but his curiosity about their gift got the better of him. He flipped the "on" switch. 

"So, Freud, what did you want to show us?" Bucky asked. 

The next thing Bucky knew, he was standing in his bedroom -- as it was just before he went off to war. He was looking into the full-length mirror hanging on his door, wearing a black tux, his hair short like he had worn it in the 40s. 

And his metal arm was flesh. 

(And he was considerably less buff, more lean.) 

There was a knock at the door, and, "Son? You about ready?" 

The world spun, and Bucky fell back onto his bed. It took three tries before he found his voice. "P...Pop?" 

The door opened, and Bucky's heart clenched as his father came into view. "You okay, son?" 

Bucky just stared for a moment. 

"Hey, now, you're not getting cold fee--oof!" 

Bucky had practically tackled his father, leaping up from the bed and hugging him tight. He spoke the words he thought he'd been forever denied the chance to say again: "I love you, Pop!" 

His father chuckled warmly, returning the embrace. "I love you too, son. Now, let's not keep Stevie waiting, huh?" 

Bucky made the mental connection. "I'm marrying Stevie ... a-and the whole family's here?" 

"Well ... not the _whole_ family," his father admitted. "But honestly, anyone who can't accept Stevie as my son-in-law isn't family." Bucky wasn't sure he'd ever loved his father more than in that moment. But ... was this what his father would _really_ say? 

Time seemed to freeze, and Freud appeared. "The Vision worked on me with the help of his Mind Stone," the AI explained. "We believe this programme can, based on a composite of your memories and those of Captain Rogers, as well as with data collated from historical records and familial anecdotes provided by your great-niece, predict the reactions of the people you knew, with 98.97% accuracy. And, Vision claims, with the help of a magic-user friend of Thor's known as Dr Strange, he has implanted a psychic imprint of some of the people here, most notably your parents." 

"Psychic imprint?" Did that mean ...? 

"'Bits of soul,' Strange called them," Freud confirmed. 

So if The Vision was right, Bucky's parents were kind of _really there_. 

"What we're having here is fantasy of what your wedding day might have been like if the war had not played out as it originally had for you. And, well, of course we tweaked things, so that gay marriage is already legal in this reality. And we might have tweaked a few other details -- I'd suggest just rolling with anything that doesn't make sense. The point is having the best day you can, with the people you otherwise couldn't have celebrated with." 

"Thank you," Bucky whispered, tears welling. 

Freud bowed his head, then disappeared. 

"So, you ready?" Bucky's father asked, straightening Bucky's bow-tie. 

"I've never been _more_ ready." Even with the real-world ceremony, it had just been a formality. And now, he was eager to see the rest of his family (husband included). 

His mother met him at the back door. "Ma!" he cried joyously. He could barely see her through the sudden deluge pouring from his eyes, but that didn't stop him from sweeping her up and twirling around with her, revelling in the realness of her, how her laughter was as bright as birdsong." 

"Is my hair a mess now, Mister Whirlwind?" she asked, a bit breathless, when he finally set her down. "I wanna look my best when I walk my boy down the aisle," she added, pinching his cheek. 

"You could never look anything but beautiful," he insisted as he smoothed her hair for her. 

"I'll let 'em know you're ready," his father said, chuckling and slipping out the door. 

Bucky offered his mother his arm. He didn't know if the claim of her having a bit of soul was true -- maybe it was a comforting lie to make this scenario seem ... well, not the mockery, the foolish fancy, it would otherwise be. But really, seeing the life in her glittering eyes as she beamed back at him, a little sadness mixed in the joy, he couldn't believe this was anything less than his mother beside him -- no simulation, no daydream. 

The music started, and they stepped outside. There yard was full of chairs, with two paths on either side of the crowd. His mother led him to the one closest to the back door; the other path started at the gate that led from the front yard to the back. Feeling a sudden pang at the thought of Steve walking that path alone while Bucky walked with his mother, Bucky glanced that way -- and nearly stumbled. 

There was Sarah Rogers. 

And ... Stevie? _Little_ Stevie?? He couldn't even be sure -- Stevie was a little shorter than Sarah, so Bucky couldn't really see him! 

Bucky's eyes scanned the crowd as they walked. There was Dum-Dum Dugan, and Pinkerton -- there were _all_ the Commandos! And Peggy! But ... if Steve was Stevie, why would anyone from the war be here? If Stevie never took the serum, they never would have met the Commandos .... 

Freud's words echoed in his mind. _I'd suggest just rolling with anything that doesn't make sense. The point is having the best day you can, with the people you otherwise couldn't have celebrated with._

And much like the Avengers in the modern day, the Commandos were like family -- Bucky would want them to be there. But why have Steve be Stevie ...? 

"Freud, pause, please" Bucky requested when he and Stevie met at the altar, and the AI obliged. "Soooo, what's with the lack of serum?" 

Stevie looked surprised -- and a little hurt, which was like a knife in Bucky's gut. "You don't like it?" Stevie's voice, normally deep regardless if height, was, for once, as small as his current size. 

"No, no, baby, I do -- Freud, show him?" Bucky looked up and found a silver-white aura, with streaks of orange and pink -- honesty, with love and attraction. "But there was a time when .... Actually, Freud, let's show him that, too." 

Suddenly, they were in school. 

Stevie's desk was empty. Kid Bucky, looking eightish, was working on a writing assignment, his aura mostly calm, with hints if anxiety -- worry for the missing Stevie, Grown-Up Bucky knew. 

"Say, Barnes, shouldn't you be rescuin' your damsel? Looks like he got caught by a dragon again," remarked a boy on the opposite side of Kid Bucky. 

"Shaddup, Mike, 'less you want me ta pound ya inta next week," Kid Bucky warned with no real heat, sounding almost bored, like he'd heard the insult more times than he could keep track of. His aura seemed merely perturbed. 

The boy in front of Kid Bucky turned around. "Why do ya even bother bein' friends with him, anyway? 'S not like he can _do_ anything!" 

"I know why -- it's cause Barnes likes ta play hero!" Mike posed. "And so long as his best friend is such a wimp, Barnes'll always seem bigger 'n tougher!" 

Kid Bucky suddenly looked worried, his aura reflecting his unease. 

"For a long time after that, I wondered if it was true, if my friendship was truly so shallow," the Grown-Up Bucky revealed. The scene changed to when Steve rescued Bucky from the HYDRA weapons factory, Damseled Bucky's eyes and aura full of love -- and lust. "When I saw you after you took the serum, I realised I still loved you, so my love wasn't about how special you made me feel -- though that might have been a side-effect, sure," he admitted ruefully. "I eventually understood that there's nothing wrong with being glad you managed to protect someone you love, so long as you love them for more than an ego boost, and I _did_. My _real_ sin, was was being afraid you only cared about _me_ because I'd _protected you_. I was afraid that there wasn't really any reason for you to like me otherwise. I _really_ should have known better." 

"You _should_ have," Stevie agreed with a lopsided grin. "Mind, you actually _did_ still protect me after that day ...." Freud showed the times Bucky saved Steve from afar, acting as a sniper, and times where he fought back-to-back with Steve. "And I did love you for doing that -- but it's not the whole of _why_ I loved you. We went through a lot, and that certainly helped cement things between us, but I loved you in the quiet moments, too." 

They saw their child-selves, twelve or so, playing chess on a rainy day, laughing and chatting, Stevie's aura full of love and contentment. 

"Ditto," Grown-Up Bucky agreed, Kid Bucky's aura a near-perfect mirror of Stevie's, with just the faintest hints of anxiety for his friend. 

"So, anyway," Buck began, the scene dissolving back into the paused wedding, "I guess what I'm asking is, are you being Little Stevie now for my sake, or yours? 'Cause I love you _both_ ways, but I would think you'd want to be your big self from now on ...." 

Stevie blushed. "It's a little of both, I guess? Back then, I was too frustrated by needing you to save me to really appreciate that you _did_ , to feel the love behind it. And lately, I've realised that the reasons I hated this body were all about what I couldn't do. Take those things away, and ... this is the body you fell in love with. You saw the value I couldn't. And things come so easy to my post-serum body, it's easy to take for granted. I never want to forget that this is the _real_ me, deep down." 

"It is, but Stevie, the other you is just as real!" 

Freud showed them the conversation with Erskine, where the man explained how the serum worked, talking about how it made a man's outsides match his heart. Then, they saw the Red Skull, then the wedding again. 

"It ain't your fault your body couldn't handle your environment, Stevie. I'm proud of you for doing as well as you did all those years in spite of that, but you'd never say a kid who was cured of an illness wasn't themselves anymore, right? Or that I'm not me with my metal arm?" 

Stevie's eyes flew open wide. "No! I mean, yes, you are still you!" 

Bucky took his hand, chuckling. "I knew what you meant. Do you know what _I_ mean?" 

Stevie ducked his head, nodding. "Yeah, okay, I won't think of the other me as 'not me'. Still, I get to be the other me all the time in the real world, so I figured _here_ ...." 

"Well, I'm certainly not complaining!" Bucky assured him. "If that's what you want, I'm all for it." Getting to spend his wedding night with both Steve _and_ Stevie? Talk about a wish come true! 

They started the wedding up again. It was a traditional affair, with the addendum of "I do" being followed up by "Till the end of the line". The ceremony over, there were hugs all over the place, Bucky nearly as eager to embrace Sarah as he'd been to hug his own mother (although he was gentler with Sarah). Funnily enough, he almost mistook his sister for her granddaughter. He was also delighted to meet Mr Barrow and Mr Kent (the latter having played piano as Bucky and Stevie had walked down the aisle) -- he'd known them in passing before, but hadn't known what a comfort they'd been to Stevie. 

And then he turned and found Howard Stark, and all his joy evaporated. 

"It's okay, Barnes. It wasn't your fault. Truth be told, I blame myself -- I knew I was flirting with danger when I worked on the serum. You know me -- can't resist a flirtation," the man added ruefully. 

"Are ... do you ...?" Bucky tried to ask, confused. 

Stevie slipped a comforting hand into Bucky's. 

"Do I know how I died? Yeah. Bit of soul, remember?" Stark reminded them. "Anyway, I'm sorry my son blamed you -- thank you for being so understanding with him." 

Bucky shook his head, partly in negation, partly in amazement that he was really talking to the man he'd killed. "I don't blame Tony for feeling like he did -- and I figure it's been pretty much the other way around since that fight. I'm my own man again -- I don't think that would have been possible without his technology." 

Stark grinned. "That's my boy! Like father like son -- maybe even better." 

A thought occurred to Bucky. "Have you ...?" 

"Talked to Tony? Yeah. Looking a bit older, to match his last memory of me, but yeah. His mother too." 

Bucky had another thought. "So ... what's it like being ...?" 

"Dead? Not really sure. When I'm like this, I can't remember the other side -- Strange said there's like a cosmic rule against it. To be honest, I'd never believed in an afterlife while I was alive -- and Tony _still_ doesn't. He thinks I'm just a construct of Freud. _I_ don't think so -- I think, therefore I am, right? Anyway, I'm grateful I got to see the man he's become. I hope he brings me out again sometime," he added wistfully. 

"I'll make sure he does," Stevie promised. 

"So this is what you were like before?" came the booming voice of Dum Dum Dugan behind them. 

The grin lighting Stevie's face restored helped restore the joy in Bucky's heart. 

"I won't hurt ya if I hug ya, will I?" Dugan asked, seeming genuinely worried. 

Stevie rolled his eyes and hugged the man first; Dugan ended up lifting Stevie off the ground. Chuckling at the antics, Bucky stepped in for a hug of his own, and found himself similarly lifted off the ground. He and Stevie were then both were practically passed around the other Commandos like dolls -- not that Bucky minded. Being in this era, with these people, it was like his time as the Winter Soldier never happened -- he didn't feel the worry that he might go off if someone so much as brushed against him. He never realised until now how much he missed this boisterous kind of physical contact. 

When the greetings had calmed, music started up, and the Commandos insisted the newlyweds dance. One song bled into another, others joining in now. Stevie soon stumbled, eyes on something across the yard; Bucky followed his gaze .... 

To Peggy, dancing with Howard. 

Once upon a time -- very recently, even -- Bucky would have been ferociously jealous at his beloved being distracted by her. Now, he felt ... serene. "Go to her," he gently prompted. 

Stevie started, shooting Bucky a look of alarm and disbelief. "I-I wasn't--" 

"It's okay, baby," Bucky soothed with a hand on Stevie's back. "I know you love me -- truly, madly, deeply, as a song goes. But I also know you love her, and I don't want you to _ever_ hold yourself back from love -- from giving or receiving. We did way too much of that growing up, and look at how much we lost in the process. So you go spend some time with her -- as much as you need. And if you want to ... _fondue_ with her, that's fine too. I'll always be here when you get back. And, hey, as far as I'm concerned, for _her_ ... there's, ah ... always room for one more in our bed. I don't mean that in a sleazy way!" Bucky hurriedly added when Stevie's eyes looked about to pop out of his head. "But I care about her, and I know I owe her a lot, for looking after you and helping you come after me. If neither of you want a third wheel around, that's totally fine; I can wait in the dugout for it to be my turn again, so to speak. God knows she's waited long enough for a dance, though -- we owe her that, at the very least. And if you can give her more, if she wants that, and if you want to do that... do." 

Stevie still looked alarmed -- and hurt. "Buck, how can you ...?" He looked at Peggy. "How can _I_ ...?" 

Bucky's gently took Stevie by the chin. "Stevie, you know she married someone -- do you think she never truly loved her husband? Or if she did, do you think that means her love for you wasn't real after all? Or is it option 3: she loved you both? I repeat: _I know you love me_. Your aura proves it." With that, an aura appeared above Stevie, the same mix of silver-white, pink, and orange as Bucky's -- alternating with an aura of anxiety. "And I know you love _her_ \-- I would never ask for otherwise." 

He turned Stevie's head towards Peggy, and perhaps the pink and orange faded a little, a bit of yellow appearing, but it wasn't that much changed, really. 

"I have you most of the time -- and I might never have had you at _all_ , if not for her," Bucky pointed out. "I was blessed with a second chance she never had. I can be patient. I can let you go now and then, to do your own thing. I can share you with the world -- I _do_. Not just with her, but with friends, family .... And I promise, for every second you spend with someone else, _whatever_ your feelings for them, I will never doubt your love for me. It ain't pie, sweetheart -- the love you feel for others _strengthens_ our love; it doesn't diminish it." And whatever jealousies Bucky had felt before or might even feel later, he believed what he was saying now. Jealousy was human, but if he ever felt it again, he would remind himself of how he felt right now, so at peace .... 

Eyes glittering, Steve grabbed Bucky by the lapels and kissed him, long and deep and with every ounce of feeling possible. "I ... I think I do owe her a dance. But I think that's _all_ I want. Closure, you know?" 

Bucky brushed a stray lock from Stevie's brow. "Baby, you don't have to decide right now. And if you do decide, you can change your mind later. Okay?" 

Still seeming anguished, Stevie nodded. He turned, and started walking towards Peggy -- pulling Bucky with him. 

"Congratulations!" Peggy told them when they reached her, hugging Stevie and kissing his cheek, then doing the same with Bucky. "I feel rather foolish for not having realised your feelings for one another sooner!" she added ruefully. 

"Don't! Peggy, I never lied to you about how I felt," Steve insisted. "I did -- I _do_ \-- love you." 

"You loved your husband, didn't you?" Bucky asked her, only realising a moment later that she might not know about that, might not have a "bit of soul" that knew her future. 

He worried for nothing. Instead of asking what he meant, she grew thoughtful. "I did indeed," she replied softly. "Still do." 

"Stevie never believed we could be together, so he opened his heart to you. Just like you believed Steve was lost to you, so you opened your heart to another. Both loves are real, and important." 

Looking at Stevie a long moment, she finally nodded. "I believe you owe me a dance." 

With a parting, loving glance for Bucky, Stevie whisked Peggy away. The sight made Bucky happy, glad for his husband that he had regained another something the war had taken. He then took advantage of the opportunity to dance with his mother, then his sister, enjoying his own losses restored. 

He took a break after, admiring his wedding ring -- simple compared to the real thing, but still engraved with their vow, inside the band. Stevie found him soon after, plopping down onto the chair beside his, and then slipping his hand into Bucky's. 

"Thank you," he said quietly. 

Bucky squeezed his hand in lieu of reply, smiling. Then, "Do you remember how I changed that line, the day we used Freud the first time?" Bucky asked, holding up his ring. 

Stevie pursed his lips, thinking. "To the end of the _infinite_ line, wasn't it?" 

Bucky nodded. "And do you know why people exchange rings when they marry?" 

"I think ... it's because, as circles, they're symbols of eternity? Meaning the vows are forever." 

"Right. And here we are, back in time, where our lives left off, more or less. The line of our lives has come full circle, yet we're still moving. The line really _is_ infinite," Bucky mused. 

Stevie took the ring and slid it back onto Bucky's finger. "Be it ever so," he whispered, then kissed his husband, with much-beloved voices -- ones they'd long thought to never hear again -- cheering them on. 

Bucky thought maybe, for the first time in his life, he was 100% happy. 

A peek at the aura above his head confirmed it. 

~FINIS~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you as afraid of Steve being killed off in the MCU as I am? Check out my petition! [https://www.change.org/p/marvel-marvel-please-keep-steve-rogers-alive-in-the-mcu?recruiter=74591988&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=share_twitter_responsive](https://www.change.org/p/marvel-marvel-please-keep-steve-rogers-alive-in-the-mcu?recruiter=74591988&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=share_twitter_responsive)

**Author's Note:**

> If you've enjoyed my writing so far, I invite you to explore my original fantasy storyverse, [Gaiankind](http://gaiankind.com)! You can even find Gaiankind stories for free [here](http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Gaiankind) on AO3!


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